CASINO GAMES

The table below lists the house edge and standard deviation of online casino games. House edge is defined as average loss per initial bet. For the purposes of bonus play, a more useful figure is average loss per unit wagered. Both of these house edge values are listed in the table for each game. The two values will only differ for games with raises or doubles, where the final bet size may be larger than the initial bet. The third column, house edge "full range online", is expressed in terms of the traditional definition -- average loss per initial bet.

Standard deviation is a measure of the variation from the house advantage. A higher standard deviation indicates a higher chance of doubling your bankroll or busting while fulfilling a playthrough requirement. Like house edge, standard deviation is listed both per unit wagered and per initial bet. Per unit wagered corresponds to the expected range of return while completing a wagering requirement. Per initial bet corresponds to the expected range of return per hand. With >1 play video poker, standard deviation is the total bet summed over all n hands, rather than the bet per hand.

Game	House Edge			Standard Deviation
Game	Per Unit Wagered	Per Initial Bet	Full Range Online	Per Unit Wagered	Per Initial Bet
Casino Solitaire	~0%	~0%	<0% to High	~0.95	~0.95
Video Poker: All Aces, 1-play	0.08%	0.08%	0.08%	8.08	8.08
Blackjack: Single Deck	~0.1%	~0.1%	-0.15 to 0.35%	1.10	1.17
Blackjack Switch	0.14%	0.16%	0.16 to 0.18%	0.83	1.25
Pontoon	0.34%	0.38%	0.38 to 0.73%	1.35	1.44
Craps, Don't Pass	0.34% to 1.36%	1.36%	1.36%	1.67	2.90
Blackjack: Standard	~0.45%	~0.5%	-0.07 to 0.73%	1.09	1.15
Video Poker: JoB, 1-play	0.46%	0.46%	-0.07* to 7.9%	4.42	4.42
Texas Hold'em Bonus	0.53%	2.04%	2.04 to 5.59%	1.79	3.50
Casino Hold'em	0.82%	2.16%	2.16%	1.61	2.61
3-Card 2nd Chance	1.01%	1.25%	1.25 to 3.74%	2.61	2.91
Baccarat	1.06%	1.06%	0.03* to 9.3%*	0.93	0.93
Video Poker: Deuces Wild, 1-play	1.09%	1.09%	-0.76* to 6.7%	5.92	5.92
Caribbean Hold'em	1.17%	3.09%	2.16%	1.60	2.60
French Roulette	1.35%	1.35%	1.35 to 2.70%	0.99	0.99
Video Poker: Joker Poker, 1-play	1.40%	1.40%	-0.64* to 7.3%	5.99	5.99
Stravaganza	~2%	~4%	~4%	1.30	1.71
3-Card Poker (Ante & Play)	2.01%	3.37%	0.89* to 4.28%	1.27	1.64
Mulligan Poker	2.17%	3.15%	3.15%	1.34	1.61
Hold'em High	2.28%	5.03%	5.03%	5.89	8.76
3-Card Poker (Pair Plus)	2.32%	2.32%	0.89* to 4.58%	2.91	2.91
Caribbean Stud Poker	2.56%	5.22%	0.99* to 5.22%	1.57	2.24
Red Dog	2.67%	3.16%	2.75 to 3.16%	1.38	1.50
Casino War	2.68%	2.88%	1.71 to 2.88%	1.01	1.05
Single Zero Roulette	2.70%	2.70%	2.70%	1.00	1.00
Pai Gow Poker	2.73%	2.73%	~0.7* to 8.5%*	0.75	0.75
Sic Bo	2.78%	2.78%	2.78 to 19.0%	1.00	1.00
Let Them Ride	2.85%	3.51%	-0.24* to 3.57%	4.66	5.17
Slots	3 to 6%	3 to 6%	2 to 15%	Varies (High)	Varies (High)
Double Zero Roulette	5.26%	5.26%	0.84* to 7.89%	1.00	1.00
Hi-Lo	~6%	~6%	2.44% to 11%	~0.6	~0.6
Keno	5 to 25%	5 to 25%	2.5 to 35%	Varies (High)	Varies (High)

*5Dimes Bonus Casino ofters an improved house edge for BJ, VP, and common table games
*Betfair offers ~zero house edge Blackjack, Baccarat, Roulette, and Jacks or Better
*High house edge relates to rounding commission to nearest $0.25 with $1 bet

What Game to Choose

At non-Microgaming casinos roulette, baccarat, craps, and sic bo will rarely count towards wagering requirements due to the possibility of a low-risk bet on multiple outcomes (a bet on both red and black in roulette). More detailed information about the remaining choices is below:

Blackjack -- Blackjack and blackjack variations are the most desirable games in the casino to play while fulfilling wagering requirements for two reasons -- a low house advantage and an acceptable risk of busting (moderate standard deviation). If blackjack meets wagering requirements with the same playthrough as other games, then choose blackjack. With a ~0.5% house edge, a player could has a positive expected return for a 150x bonus playthrough with an unlimited bankroll. However, bankroll is limited, so you must consider the risk of deviating from the expected return and busting. This risk varies with bet size and becomes quite significant with playthroughs of more than 50x bonus. More detailed information on selecting bet size and risk of busting is on the Blackjack page.

Video Poker -- Video poker is the only common game in the casino that may have a lower house edge than blackjack (and variations). With some video poker pay tables, the player has an advantage over the casino with optimal strategy. Nevertheless, I do not recommend video poker for fulfilling a wagering requirement when blackjack is available due to the high standard deviation of return. There is roughly a 1 in 40,000 of getting a natural royal flush. A player can expect an average of a ~2% decrease in expected return in the other 39,999 hands where the royal flush is not drawn. In this way a players bankroll decreases until a high ranking hand is drawn. Using 50-100 hand power play with minimum x5 bet size ($2.5 on 50 play and $5 on 100 play) minimizes the variance and risk of busting. See the Video Poker page for strategy information.

Texas Hold'em Bonus -- Texas Hold'em Bonus is a variation of Texas Hold'em that is available with Cryptologic, Wagerworks, Gambling Federation, and Vuetec casinos. The game has a house edge per unit wagered that is as low as blackjack or video poker. However, house edge per initial bet (traditional definition of house edge) is much higher. The difference relates to the many raises and large average bet size or nearly 4x the ante bet. If you choose Hold'em Bonus, I recommend a small initial bet size. Game play can be slow due to the complex strategy decisions. See the Texas Hold'em Bonus page for strategy information and an optimal strategy calculator.

Casino Hold'em -- Casino Hold'em is a variation of Texas Hold'em that is available with Playtech, RTG, Net Ent, and World Gaming casinos. The game has a low house edge per unit wagered of 0.82%. Like Texas Hold'em Bonus, the house edge per initial bet (traditional definition of house edge) is much higher. The difference relates to raising on 82% of hands, resulting in a large average bet size of ~2.6x the Ante bet. If you choose Casino Hold'em, I recommend a small initial bet size. I find that game play is much faster than Texas Hold'em bonus since there is only one strategy decision -- fold or play. See the Casino Hold'em page for strategy information and an optimal strategy calculator.

3-Card Poker -- 3-Card Poker offers two possible bets -- Ante & Play and Pair Plus. The Ante & Play bet has a house edge per unit wagered of ~2.0%. The house edge per unit wagered is lower than the house edge per initial bet due to the game's many raises. The Pair Plus bet has a slightly higher house edge per unit wagered than the Ante & Play bet and a far higher standard deviation. Like video poker, the high standard deviation is due to rare high-ranking hands. A straight flush occurs roughly one in 460 hands and 3 of a kind occurs roughly one in 425 hands. With the pair plus bet, a player can expect a ~17% decrease in bankroll during the remaining 99.6% of hands in which a straight flush and 3 of a kind do not occur. This makes busting likely when meeting a large wagering requirement with the Pair Plus bet. See the 3-Card Poker page for more detail.

Microgaming Casinos -- Under the traditional Microgaming Clearplay bonus system, all casino games count towards wagering requirements at different percentages. The low house edge games like blackjack, video poker, and baccarat usually have too high a wagering requirement to be useful. The best choice to play through a bonus is often French Roulette. See the Clearplay bonus section for a more detailed discussion.