Casino Games with Best Odds

Nowadays, more and more players are opting for online casinos, as they offer the chance to play their favourite casino games and enjoy the same high level of entertainment from the comfort of their homes. All reputable online casinos are convenient and secure, which is why this form of virtual entertainment is on the rise. Moreover, most of them have teamed up with various software suppliers in an attempt to provide a broad selection of top-quality online games. As a result, you can now play a staggering number of variations, which can greatly diversify your online gambling experience.

Since every game comes with its own rules and house edge, your chances of winning greatly depend on the variation you choose. Some casino games simply offer better odds than others, which makes them worth playing. If you want to turn a profit while enjoying an exciting casino game, it is best to take several important factors into account, such as the house edge and the Return to Player.

The Important Role of the House Edge

If you are new to casinos, one of the first terms you should familiarise yourself with is the house edge. Your chances of winning depend heavily on this aspect and, to determine which games have the best odds, you must consider it. In general, games with a high house edge are not beneficial, as they do not give you many chances of winning. The house edge indicates the built-in advantage all casino games have, which enables casinos to operate profitably.

It is also worth mentioning that you should take into account the Return to Player percentage, which shows the expected return from a particular casino game. The most advantageous games are those with a high percentage return. Usually, you can find this valuable information on the casino’s website, so make sure you check it.

Casino Games with the Best Odds

In general, the casino games that have the best odds are those that feature a skill element. These games give you the chance to influence their outcome by applying a strategy. In this way, you can improve your game, make better choices, and gain an advantage over the casino. This is why games such as blackjack and video poker have grown in popularity over the past few years. However, it should be noted that games of chance such as roulette and craps can also be quite beneficial if you play the right variation.

Blackjack

When it comes to blackjack, you should know that the classic game offers one of the lowest house edges in the gambling industry, if not the very lowest. Most blackjack games offer a payback percentage of 99%, which gives you a decent chance of making a profit in the long term, provided you apply basic strategy. Some of the most beneficial variations include Blackjack Switch, Spanish 21, European Blackjack, Pontoon, Atlantic City Blackjack, and others. However, bear in mind that since every variation has different rules, the house edge will not be the same.

Video Poker & Slots

Video poker is another game that offers decent odds, as you can be highly rewarded if you apply skill. The expected return in some of the best video poker variations, such as 9/6 Jacks or Better, is approximately 99%, provided you use a reliable strategy. Video poker is often compared with slots because, in land-based casinos, the latter is played on almost identical machines.

However, these two games differ in many respects and one of the factors that sets them apart is the payback percentage. At best, slots offer a payback percentage of 95%. In most cases, the percentage varies from 75% to 80%, whereas even the video-poker games with the worst odds offer approximately 94%. If you want to turn a profit, you are better off playing video poker rather than slots.

Craps

Another very popular casino game worth mentioning is craps. While it is true that some bets in this dice game offer the worst odds, with a house edge as high as 10%, you should know that craps also features a bet whose house edge is zero. The latter, known as the odds bet, is perhaps your best option when playing craps. In this sense, the higher the amount you are allowed to wager on this bet, the better your odds of winning.

When it comes to craps, it is advisable to place money mainly on the simple bets such as come/don’t-come, pass/don’t-pass, odds bets, and the like, as in such cases the Return to Player percentage will be around 99% or even higher. This game offers an excellent house edge, provided that you stick to the simple bets only.

Roulette

Roulette is one of the all-time favourites and offers fairly good odds. However, you should know that some variations come with a high house edge. One of them is American Roulette, in which the wheel features two green zero pockets. As a result, this version offers a house edge of 5.26%, which is far less favourable. This is why you are better off playing European Roulette, in which the RTP is 97.30%.

Baccarat

Last but not least, baccarat is also among the games famed for offering decent odds, despite being a game of chance. In this game, you can choose from three bets and, to increase your chances of winning, you should wager on the one that offers the best odds. Statistically speaking, the bet that offers the lowest house edge is the Banker bet – 1.06%; therefore, it is best to opt for it whenever you play baccarat. The second-best option is the Player bet, whose house edge is estimated at 1.36%.

The Odds of 10 Popular Casino Games Explained

Understanding the odds of casino games is vital if you wish to improve your chances of winning. The trouble is that odds and probabilities fluctuate wildly across different categories of games and their variations, so we thought it would be useful to provide readers with concrete examples. This section contains comprehensive explanations about the odds of 10 popular casino games. We have done the legwork, crunching all the numbers to assist you in making informed decisions the next time you visit your favourite online casino.

Classic Blackjack is an authentic casino staple designed by the industry frontrunner Microgaming. The game is definitely worth admiring, as it comes with incredible graphics, an intuitive interface, and nicely rendered animations that perfectly capture the atmosphere at land-based blackjack tables. The phenomenally low house edge significantly broadens the appeal of Classic Blackjack.

Players will benefit from a theoretical return of 99.91% in the long term, which means they face only a tiny casino advantage of 0.09%. This almost non-existent house edge can be attributed to the set of rules the game uses. For starters, Classic Blackjack plays with a single deck of cards, which removes approximately 0.48% from the initial advantage the house holds against the player.

The dealer must stand on soft totals of 17 and there is no reduction in the blackjack payouts, which pay at the standard odds of 3 to 2. The peek rule does not apply here, as the virtual dealer takes only one card at the start of a round. The double-down rules are a bit rigid, since doubling is allowed only on initial totals of hard 9, 10, and 11.

Resplitting is disallowed, but Microgaming compensates players by giving them the option to draw multiple cards to split aces, an extremely powerful move that reduces the casino’s advantage by 0.19%. Your odds of winning in Classic Blackjack are contingent on the rules it uses, so we decided to compile this table to drive the point home.

We should point out that the house edge in Microgaming’s Classic Blackjack stands at 0.09% only on condition that you play each hand according to perfect basic strategy. Keep in mind the strategy for single-deck variants differs from that for multi-deck games. Your long-term theoretical return will drop significantly if you rely on intuition.

This recommendation comes from industry heavyweight Playtech, a company highly regarded for delivering expertly rendered table games with player-friendly rules. The multi-hand version of Blackjack Surrender is a perfect example, as it yields a minuscule house edge of under half a per cent. The variation’s high theoretical return once again lies in the set of rules it employs.

Six randomly shuffled decks are in play in Blackjack Surrender, where the dealer stands on soft 17 and peeks for blackjacks when showing an ace or a ten-value card. Players can double down on any initial two-card total. Doubling after splitting is allowed, but resplitting is impossible. The seven-card Charlie rule also applies, which means the player wins with any unbusted seven-card total against all dealer hands except blackjacks.

Late surrender is also in place (hence the variation’s name), shaving an extra 0.07% off the house edge. Under this rule, the player can fold any starting hand at the beginning of a round to receive half of their original bet back. This move is available only after the dealer has peeked for a blackjack. In multi-deck variants like this one, surrendering is the correct decision when you have a hard 15 against a dealer’s 10 or a hard 16 against the dealer’s 9, 10, or ace.

As you can see in the table above, Blackjack Surrender supports a range of side wagers from the 21+3 and Perfect Pairs categories. We shall not go into further particulars about how these optional wagers work, since Playtech has included this information in the game’s help section. Nonetheless, we must warn you to avoid these side bets, as their house edges are substantially higher at 4.62% and 6.11%, respectively.

Our third recommendation, Jacks or Better Double Up by NetEnt, marries luck and skill and allows you to play up to 25 hands at a time. The premise is simple: you are dealt five random cards from a single deck on the initial deal. You must then decide which cards to keep and which to replace so that you can form the best possible five-card poker hand after the draw.

The stronger the hand, the higher the payout, with the royal flush ranking as the top payer in the game. The weakest hand consists of paired jacks or better, which pay even money. Consult the table below for the full range of payouts in Jacks or Better Double Up.

Discarding decisions should be anything but arbitrary. There is a tried-and-tested discarding strategy for Jacks or Better, and only following it to a tee will ensure you benefit from the high theoretical return NetEnt advertises for this variation. The strategy is based on the premise that each new hand is dealt from a fresh deck containing 52 cards, but the discards the player chooses to replace are not returned to the deck until the end of the round.

The correct strategy decisions for Jacks or Better Double Up, and video poker in general, are calculated according to the paytables, the probability of improving your initial holding after the draw, and the overall maths of the game. Bet level is another factor that impacts players’ long-term return in Jacks or Better.

Looking at the paytable above, it becomes obvious that you should always wager the maximum of five credits per hand, or else you will shorten your long-term return from 99.56% to 98.40%. This is due to the discrepancies in the payouts for royal flushes, which increase dramatically from bet level 4 to bet level 5.

Microgaming appears on our list of recommendations again with another high-value card game. The studio’s Aces and Faces plays similarly to other variations of five-card draw poker. What distinguishes it from the bunch are the enhanced payouts on specific four-of-a-kind hands consisting of aces or face cards such as kings, queens, or jacks. It is worth mentioning that this is the 8/5 version of the game, otherwise known as “full-pay” Aces and Faces.

The 8/5 ratio indicates the variation pays 8 to 1 for a full house and 5 to 1 for a flush at the highest bet level, when five coins are in action. The royal flush is again the most valuable hand and pays at odds of 800 to 1, or 4,000 coins at the highest bet level. Skim through the full paytable below before we discuss how these payouts affect your winning odds and overall return rates.

This paytable is considered optimal for the variation because any further reductions in the full-house and flush payouts would dent the long-term theoretical return of the game. In turn, this means a full-pay version gives you the best possible odds of winning. There is still a house edge working against you, but it is quite tolerable at 0.74% in the 8/5 variation. Here is how Microgaming’s version of Aces and Faces compares with the so-called short-pay variants in terms of house edge (HE):

• 7/6 Aces and Faces – 0.81% HE (99.19% RTP)
• 7/5 Aces and Faces – 1.90% HE (98.10% RTP)
• 6/5 Aces and Faces – 3.05% HE (96.95% RTP)

We cannot stress enough the importance of using proper strategy while playing any video-poker variation, Microgaming’s Aces and Faces included. The optimal strategy for Aces and Faces differs from that for Jacks or Better, but you can easily find a cheat sheet online and consult it as you play. Microgaming’s version is also equipped with an auto-hold feature that gives you hints on which cards to keep.

If you are looking for higher return rates, you will find them in First Person Craps by Evolution Gaming. The game is available in a live-dealer format, but we suggest you try the randomly generated version if you prefer speedier gameplay. The first-person variant supports a broad range of bets, with return rates fluctuating according to the wagers you place.

The payouts, winning odds, and return percentages depend on the possible dice combinations for each number. Craps is played with two six-sided dice that can produce 36 combinations in total. The more possible combinations there are for a given outcome, the better its odds of appearing. A roll of seven is the backbone of the game, since seven is the most easily rolled number, with six combinations. Here is the paytable for Evolution Gaming’s First Person Craps, along with the house edges and return rates of the supported bets.

We understand craps can be rather overwhelming, but it offers very good value provided you know which bets to place and which to avoid. Looking at the table above, you can easily conclude that pass/come and don’t come/don’t pass wagers yield the highest return rates, especially when combined with taking or laying odds. Most other bets have terrible odds and should be avoided altogether. In particular, Any Seven is notorious for being one of the worst wagers you can find on the casino floor.

The help section of the game offers detailed explanations about each supported bet type, so feel free to refer to it if you are a complete rookie. If you are new to craps, Evolution gives you the option to switch to an easy mode, which involves fewer wagers. Transitioning to this simplified version of the game does not affect the theoretical return.

This suggestion comes from Pragmatic Play’s suite of live-dealer games and carries a slightly higher but still tolerable house edge. Live baccarat plays with six decks and is particularly suitable for inexperienced players, as it is as simple as betting on a coin flip. The objective in the main game is to predict whether the Player or the Banker will win the coup by obtaining a hand whose value is closest to 9. Betting on ties is also an option.

The card-drawing rules for the two sides are fixed, so the only decision you must make is whether to bet on Player, Banker, or Tie. Of these three outcomes, the Banker is your best bet, with a relatively low house edge of 1.06% and a winning probability of 45.86%. Just keep in mind that the house charges a 5% commission on all winning Banker bets, so players are paid at odds of 0.95 to 1 rather than receiving even money. The odds of winning for the Player side are not too poor, either. The Player hand wins approximately 44.62% of the time and yields a slightly higher advantage for the casino of 1.24%.

Pragmatic Play’s live-baccarat tables offer a variety of side wagers, which you should avoid due to their hefty house edges, as shown above. Yet, most of these optional wagers pale in comparison with the Tie bet, which gives the casino a 14.36% advantage and has a significantly lower winning probability of 9.52%.

Aside from offering relatively decent odds of winning, Pragmatic Play’s Live Baccarat gives players access to a range of great features, including in-depth statistical information on trends. Players can keep track of previous results via several traditional roadmaps, including the Bead Plate, Cockroach Road, Big Eye Boy, and the Big and Small Roads.

Microgaming’s rendition of French Roulette offers some of the best winning odds players could hope to find in a game whose outcomes are fully governed by chance. Unlike most single-zero variations of roulette, this rendition features the La Partage rule, which cuts the casino advantage on certain bets from 2.70% to 1.35%.

Keep in mind this lower percentage applies only to two-sided outside wagers on red/black, high/low, and odd/even. In standard versions of the game, these even-money bets automatically lose when the ball lands in the green zero pocket, since zero is considered neither odd nor even, neither red nor black, and belongs to no specific range such as low (1-18) or high (19-36).

Under the La Partage rule in Microgaming’s version of French Roulette, the player loses only half of their original even-money bet and gets the other half back. The remaining wagers yield the standard house edge of 2.70% (97.30% RTP). Examine the table below for concise information on your chances in French Roulette with La Partage.

As you can see, even-money bets offer the most value because they carry the lowest house edges. Beyond that, Microgaming’s developers have equipped this French Roulette rendition with a host of handy features, including a racetrack, favourite bets, autoplay, turbo mode, and statistics. Players can also turn the computerised dealer’s voice on and off and enable or disable the game sounds. The minimum bet per round is £0.25, but the ceiling depends on the type of wager you place.

Our penultimate recommendation comes from Light & Wonder, a renowned gambling-services provider that previously went by the name Scientific Games. The company’s rendition of Three Card Poker definitely deserves attention, as it impresses with a nifty design, crisp graphics and a decent theoretical return. The concept of the game is relatively easy to grasp.

Three Card Poker is dealt from a single deck of cards reshuffled between each round. You play against the virtual dealer, and your objective is to obtain a higher three-card poker hand than the house. Hands are ranked in descending order as follows – straight flush, three-of-a-kind, straight, flush, pair, and high card. The house qualifies with queen high or better. The round starts with the player posting an ante bet and evaluating the strength of their hand. The player then has the option either to ‘play’, i.e. raise, by placing an additional wager equal to their ante, or to fold and forfeit the ante.

When the player beats a qualifying dealer hand, both the ante and the play bet pay even money (1 to 1). If the dealer fails to open with a qualifying hand, the player’s ante pays even money and the play bet is a push. The game awards ante-bonus payouts for straights, three-of-a-kind, and flushes.

Had it not been for these ante bonuses, the house edge would have been a monstrous 8% to 9%. The key point is that when the player obtains at least a straight, they receive a bonus proportional to their ante bet. More importantly, the player does not need to beat the dealer to collect the ante bonus, which significantly improves the odds. As for the house edge of Three Card Poker, the casino holds a 2.01% advantage in the base game, provided the player follows basic strategy.

Three Card Poker supports two optional side wagers, but we advise you to refrain from placing them, as they offer very poor value. The house edge of the Pair Plus group of side bets stands at 4.38%, while that for the 6 Card Bonus is even worse at 10.22%. The house odds for all supported wagers are displayed on the table’s layout. Feel free to consult the screenshot below for the payouts of all available main and side bets.

This timeless classic comes straight from Relax Gaming and ranks last on our list of recommended casino games, with a theoretical return of 97.30%. This relatively high percentage results from the fact that Roulette Nouveau utilises a wheel with one green zero pocket and 37 numbered pockets in total. The table layout supports all traditional outside and inside wagers, which pay at standard roulette odds.

The highest payout of 35 to 1 goes to players lucky enough to win straight up with bets on individual numbers. You can calculate the house edge of all wagers in Roulette Nouveau by using the following formula:

Let’s elaborate with an example. Assuming you place a £1 bet on red, you win if any of the 18 red numbers hit and lose if the ball settles on the remaining 19 numbers. The formula will look like this:

18/37 x 1 + 19/37 x (-1) = 18/37 + (-19/37) = -1/37 = -0.0270 x 100 = -2.70%

If you take the time to calculate the house edges of all bets in Roulette Nouveau, the result will inevitably be 2.70%, as they all produce the same casino advantage. Still, the game offers better value than double-zero roulette variations, where the casino holds a mathematical advantage of 5.26% (18/38 x 1 + 20/38 x -1 = 18/38 – 20/38 = -0.0526).

In addition to having a relatively tolerable house edge, Roulette Nouveau allows you to save your favourite betting patterns and features a heat map where you can track the history and distribution of previous outcomes. The interface is quite toned down, which makes the game perfect for roulette rookies.

Conclusion

The bottom line is that, no matter which casino game you play, it will always have a built-in advantage that will more or less prevent you from making a profit. Therefore, it is best to view online casinos as a source of entertainment that gives you the opportunity to win some extra cash from time to time. To improve your chances, you should opt for the games with the best odds.

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