Which Casino Table Games Offer the Best Odds?
Slot machine games are the most-popular games in both land-based and online casinos. But if you want the best opportunity to beat the house, you should choose table games.
Several table games feature a house edge under 2%, which gives you a good chance to win.
But what are these games? Find out below as we discuss which table games offer you the best odds.
1. Blackjack
Blackjack has long been hailed as one of the most-favorable casino games for players. This is especially true in online casinos, where you'll see player-friendly rules that push the house edge down around 0.5%.
The main rules to look for include you being paid 3:2 on natural blackjacks (instead of 6:5), and the dealer being forced to stand on a soft 17 (instead of hitting). These two rules alone can lower the house edge by 1.6%.
Other rules that work in your favor include being able to double down after splitting, doubling down on any two cards, re-splitting up to 4 hands and late surrender.
Be careful in land-based casinos, though, because some of these rules can be skewed towards the house. And if enough bad rules are in place, you could be facing a 2% house edge or higher.
It's easier to find good land-based blackjack games where there's a lot of competition. Las Vegas is the perfect example because the Alamo Casino (0.14% house edge) and El Cortez (0.24%) both offer beatable, single deck blackjack games.
No matter what type of blackjack table you find, make sure to learn basic strategy so that you lower the house advantage to its lowest point. Otherwise, blackjack can be as difficult to beat as slots for a bad player.
2. Craps (With Odds)
Craps already has some of the best bets in casino gaming because pass line and come bets offer a 1.41% house edge, and don't pass line and don't come wagers feature a 1.36% house advantage.
But you can lower the house edge even more by placing an odds bet behind your pass line or don't pass line bets. An odds wager has a 0% house edge and is placed after the point number is established.
In the case of a pass line bet, you put your odds bet behind your pass line chips, and you win if the point number is rolled before a seven. If you instead make a don't pass line bet, your odds wager wins if a seven is rolled before the point number.
In both instances, odds pay 2:1 on points of 4 and 10, 3:2 on points of 5 and 9, and 6:5 on points of 6 and 8.
The odds bet is capped at a multiple of your pass line/don't pass line bet. Depending upon the casino, you can make an odds bet worth anywhere from 2x to 100x your pass line/don't pass line wager.
It's to your advantage to make higher odds bets because this decreases the overall house edge that you're facing. Look at the following to illustrate this point:
1x odds w/ pass line = 0.848% house edge 1x odds w/ don't pass line = 0.682% house edge 2x odds w/ pass line = 0.606% house edge 2x odds w/ don't pass line = 0.455% house edge 3x odds w/ pass line = 0.471% house edge 3x odds w/ don't pass line = 0.341% house edge
3. Baccarat
If you want a simple casino experience that still gives you a good chance to win, then baccarat is your game.
All you need to do in baccarat is bet on the banker hand to win. Even with the 5% commission that's taken out for winning banker-hand bets, you still only face a 1.06% house edge.
The other reasonable bet that you can make in baccarat is the player hand, which carries a 1.24% house edge. But considering that the banker hand already gives you a better chance to win, there's no reason to wager on the player hand.
Whatever you do, though, avoid betting on both hands tying since this wager carries a 14.36% house edge.
4. French and European Roulette
We lumped these two under the same category because they're the same game, but with one minor twist.
Beginning with European roulette, this wheel features 37 numbers and a single zero. Every bet in European roulette carries a 2.70% house edge, which is good when compared to most table games.
French roulette is played on the same single-zero wheel, except that it features either the la partage rule or en prison rule.
La partage pays half back on any losing even-money bet that lands on zero. En prison gives you a chance to win back your losing even-money bet on the next spin.
NNo matter whether the la partage or en prison rule is used, the house edge is just 1.35% in French roulette.
5. Pai Gow Poker
Pai Gow poker hands begin with players being dealt seven cards, which you split into a 5-card hand and a 2-card hand.
If both of your hands beat both of the dealer's hands, you win. If you win one hand and lose the other, your bet is a push. Assuming you lose both hands, then you lose the bet.
The house gains its edge through two ways: 1) taking a 5% commission out of winning bets and 2) the dealer wins all tie hands (e.g. you and the dealer's two-card hand is ace-jack).
With perfect strategy, you can lower the Pai Gow poker house edge to 2.84%.
But you can lower the house edge to 1.46% by acting as the bank when it's your turn. The reason why the house advantage drops so much when you're the banker is because you win all ties this way.
6. Sic Bo
The Sic Bo board is a minefield for bad prop bets that carry house edges as high as 29.2%. But as long as you make the right bets, then Sic Bo is actually one of the best table games that you'll find.
The two bets that you want to concentrate on are Big and Small because they both have a 2.8% house edge.
The Big bet is found at the top right-hand corner of the board, and this offers you a 1:1 payout when the 3-dice dice combination is worth anywhere from 11 to 17.
The Small wager is found in the top left-hand corner of the board, and this pays you 1:1 if the dice combination is worth anywhere from 4 to 10.
Keep in mind, though, that the winning combination can't be formed by a triple (same three numbers).
Here's an example of a triple: you make a Big bet and the three dice all come up 4s. This equals 12, which would normally win, but you lose since it's a triple.
Two other bets that aren't always available, but also offer good value are Odd and Even wagers.
An even bet involves wagering that the dice combination will be even, and an odd wager sees you bet that the dice combo will be odd. Both of these bets also feature a 2.8% house edge.
7. Texas Hold'em Poker
Texas Hold'em has always been intriguing to gamblers because it doesn't have a house edge. Instead, the house takes a small cut of each cash-game pot/tournament fee, and players compete against each other for the rest.
If you're a skilled Texas Hold'em player, you can make a lot of money through this game. Unfortunately, this works the other way too because bad players will lose a lot over time.
The best way to ensure the latter doesn't happen is by studying poker strategy, which can be done through articles, coaches, training videos and Twitch streams.
It's also important to analyze your own play in order to fix consistent mistakes that you're making.
Conclusion
Outside of Texas Hold'em and blackjack card counting, the house always holds an edge in casino games. But your chances of winning improve dramatically when you play the table games that we discussed above.
Which game(s) you choose will depend upon your preferences.
Blackjack, Pai Gow and Texas Hold'em are good for anybody who likes using strategy to improve their odds of winning.
If you'd rather play without thinking about strategy, craps, baccarat, French/European roulette and Sic Bo are all simple games that don't require extra effort to lower the house edge.
In any case, playing the seven games that we discussed gives you an opportunity to win money, or at least stretch your bankroll further.
