Play It Smart: Lowest House Edge Casino Games

This game is the video version of basic five-card draw poker but with just a single or ante bet.

You get five cards and try to make the best poker hand possible with one draw of as many cards as you need.

You are paid according to a paytable of ranked hands, with the royal flush paying the most and one pair the smallest. If you find the right machine, the house edge is minuscule.

Video Poker has several wild-card versions, but the standard Jacks or Better game offers the lowest house edge. The house edge doesn’t get better with multi-hand versions. 

Another game that offers players decisions, you can play video poker with basic strategies for all variations. The tactics are simple and easy to memorize.

• Play full-pay Jacks or Better: This variation is the video poker game with the lowest house edge.
  Full pay is considered the 9/6 game – you win nine times your bet for a full house and six times for a flush. 
  You should get double for two pairs. You are not paid for anything lower than a pair of jacks.
• Hold any pair: Even with a low pair, in Jacks or Better, you stand a better chance of drawing two pair or three of a kind than drawing five or going for something else.
• Hold one or two face cards or aces: Even with a single face or ace, you have a better chance of matching it or drawing higher.

Baccarat is a table card game often associated with high-rollers, but you can find low-limit games online.

There are various versions of Baccarat, but you will most likely see the “punto banco” version.

Some versions offer a bonus side bet, but we don’t recommend it for the best odds.

In Baccarat, you bet on one of three choices, “player,” “banker,” or “tie.” A player win yields even money. So does a banker win, but the casino gets 5% of that? A tie pays 8-1.

There is an involved formula for the order of the deal and what wins. But you don’t have to make an extra bet during the deal, so no real strategy is involved. 

The house edge is less than 2% with the right choice.

Because of the game’s rules, you don’t have choices after the initial bet, so there is no playing strategy.

You bet on a player, banker, or tie, and the dealer does the rest.

• Play the standard version: Most baccarat games are the standard punto banco versions. But, if you run into a bonus side bet version, don’t bite.
  It may be more exciting, but it makes the house edge higher.
• Bet banker: Even though the house gets a cut of the banker’s win, the deal order makes the banker bet more advantageous in the long run. 
• Don’t bet tie: Yes, you get 8-1 on a tie win, but the chances of getting a tie are 9.3%, giving the house a little more advantage.

This exciting version of poker offers players a chance to build two hands – a five-card hand and a two-card hand – to beat the dealer.

So, you get seven cards and separate them into the two hands to try to beat the dealer in both or at least one.

Pai Gow Poker is played with a standard deck plus a joker. The Joker can count as any card only to complete a straight or flush. Otherwise, the Joker is an ace. 

Standard poker hand rankings are used to determine the winner. By rule, when you have pairs, your two-card hand must not be stronger than your five-card hand.

You are paid even money if you win both hands. If you win just one, it’s a push or tie.

Some casinos charge a 5% commission on your winnings. If you find one that doesn’t, the house edge is just 1.3%.

• Separate high cards: When you have no pair or better, put the highest card in your high (five-card) hand and the next highest card in your low hand.
• Split pairs: With two pair, where the top pair is aces, split or make a pair in each hand.
  With a top pair of kings, split except when the other pair is deuces, then play them together and play the two highest remaining cards in the low hand.
• Keep straights and flushes together: Always play a straight or flush in your five-card hand.

Craps is a fun dice game with great returns when you get “on a roll” of consecutive winners.

There are a lot of wagers available on a craps layout, so it seems complicated. But it is relatively easy when you’re seeking the lowest house edge.

With craps, you are betting on the outcome of a dice roll. A round starts with bets on sections marked “Pass” or “Don’t Pass” and the “come out” roll.

If the come-out roll is 7 or 11, Pass wins, and Don’t Pass loses. If the come-out roll is 2, 3, or 12, that’s “craps,” and the Don’t Pass wins while the Pass loses.

Any other number starts the “point” round, which opens up the betting for other choices.

If, over the following rolls, the dice come up with the point number 7, there are payouts, and a new round begins.

There are other choices for betting, the main ones being odds bets on any number, the “come” bet, which is much like the pass bet, place bets on numbers, and various “hard way” bets that call for matching numbers on dice.

Each bet has different returns based on the likelihood of the dice landing on the number.

• Bet Pass or Don’t Pass: Putting your bet on the Pass or Don’t Pass lines and leaving it offers the lowest house odds. Don’t Pass is slightly better.
• Bet Don’t Come: If a point is thrown on your Don’t Pass bet, then bet on Don’t Come.
  Don’t Come bet pays out if the shooter lands a 2 or 3 on the next roll, and 12 results in a push.
• Don’t make single-roll bets: Avoid Field, Any 7, or Any Craps. They lift the house edge to more than 10%.

Roulette is the age-old casino wheel game that has plenty of betting options with odds that range from even money to 35-1.

The table layout includes red or black numbers and spaces where you place bets. 

You can bet on just one space or spread your bets to as many spots as the table’s wagering limit allows.

Then the wheel spins with the little ball that bounces around and lands on a number from 1 to 36. If the ball lands on your number or space, you win. 

You can bet on a number, block of numbers, high/low, even/odd, or red/black, all with various payouts. But the green number zero gives the casino much of its house edge.

The American version of roulette has a zero and a double zero, while the European layout has a zero. So, the European version has a lower house edge, around 2.5%.

Roulette is essentially a lottery-type game of numbers, so little gameplay strategy is needed.

Most roulette strategies are betting systems that call for betting on 1-1 odds spots and varying bet amounts according to previous results. But there are some game techniques you can use to increase your chances.

• Play the European version: With even-money wagers, the table with the single zero has a significantly lower house edge than the American with 0 and 00.
• Concentrate on 1-1 bets: Red/black, even/odd, and high/low, which pay even, and you will hit roughly half the time.
  The hitch, of course, is the green zero, which is the casino’s edge.
• Third column/black: Look at the table layout. You’ll see that all but four black spaces are in the first two columns.
  So, if you bet on the third column and black, you cover 26 numbers in just two bets.

Slots are casino favorites because of the long-shot chance of hitting a jackpot win, sometimes life-changing. But slots pay in other ways.

Playing slots is easy. You pick a bet amount, choose several paylines if there are more than one, and spin the reels. Each slot game is gauged and tested to produce a particular house edge.
 
Most slots have a house edge of 3% to 5%, but some are set for as low as 2% or as high as 10%.

There is no gameplay strategy for slots. Your only choices are how much to bet per spin and how many paylines to play. With some games, you don’t even have the option of paylines.

Some slots give you choices in advanced bonus rounds but do not significantly change the house edge.

• Look for 5% or lower games: Plenty of slots have a 5% or lower house edge. Most online casino slots offer RTP percentages, while land-based casinos generally do not.
• Play online: Most online slots have lower house edges because online casinos have fewer overhead costs than brick-and-mortar casinos.
• Low volatility is best for RTP: Slots come with volatility ratings. High-volatility games offer bigger maximum wins but hit less frequently.
  Low volatility slots may have a small hit but pay more consistently.    

Bingo is the classic parlor game played for years in church basements and huge bingo houses.

Players buy cards with columns of numbers, and numbered balls are drawn.

When the numbers drawn fill out a particular row, column, or pattern on a card, that card wins the game’s prize.

The parlor games usually take a percentage of wins for various charities. Laws limit the prize amounts. 

Online bingo games work differently. A random number generator draws numbers, and you can buy large or small bingo cards for various payouts.

But there are many bingo games online, some that you can play for as little as 10 cents a card.

Online bingo sites allow you to play against other players for a prize. Your odds of winning depend on the total number of cards purchased.

But there are online casino bingo games that have set house edges, a limited number of balls drawn per game, and options to buy extra numbers at the end of the draw.

Bingo is a random draw game that offers no specific gameplay strategy. But there are betting and bankroll management strategies you can use.

• Set bet limits: If you plan on a long bingo session, consider your bankroll and how much you can afford to lose. Set your bet amount accordingly.
• Look for bonuses: Some casinos may offer a bingo-specific bonus. But bonuses generally boost your account balance and extend your playtime. Be sure to read all of the bonus rules.
• Consider jackpots: Bingo jackpots can be significant, so if you want to grind out a long session, consider jackpot games and know what combinations win.  

If you have played the lottery, you know how scratchcards or scratch-offs work.

You buy a card for $1 to $30, scratch off spaces on the card, and if the numbers or symbols match the winning symbols, you win an amount equal to the cost of the card or more.
 
Jackpot cards can win in the millions. The more expensive cards usually offer bigger prizes and better odds. Online casinos have fast-playing scratch-offs with a variety of bet limits and prizes.

You can buy cards or rounds for as little as 10 cents. Online scratch-offs have gadgets like bonus multipliers for certain symbols.

Scratch card house edges vary wildly, with your odds of winning much better online than with the lottery. 

This is another game of pure chance with no gameplay strategy. The best thing to do is find the right game and maintain a budget.

• Check odds and RTPs: If you buy a lottery scratch-off, check the odds on the back of the card. If you want to check before you buy, go to the lottery site. When playing online, many casino sites will list RTPs.
• Budget your play: Online scratch-offs move fast, so set a limit for yourself and stick to it. 
• Buy more expensive tickets: With the lottery, the more expensive tickets have slightly better odds. At online casinos, the more you bet, the more you win. But stay within your budget.

This is a numbers game that many state lotteries carry.

Your goal is to pick as many correct numbers as possible from a board that usually has 80 numbers.

You can pick up to 10 numbers in lottery games and 15 in online casino games.

You are paid according to the number of correct picks you make compared to the number you choose.

For instance, if you pick four spots and hit two, you win more than if you choose eight and hit two.

The lottery and online games play the same way, but online games move faster and have slightly better odds.

Keno is a numbers-guessing game, but the payouts differ according to the number of spots you choose.

The trick is to find that number of spots.

• Check the odds and returns: If you get a keno sheet from the lottery, you can find odds on the back for each set of numbers. Many online casino keno games offer RTPs. 
• Play online: We have found that the house edge for most online casino keno games is lower.