Table games: maths you can see on the table
By Ilze Krūmiņa · updated October 2026
Table games — roulette, blackjack, baccarat — have one advantage over slots: their maths is public. The house edge can be calculated from the rules, which lets you budget more precisely. Here are the key figures and how tables connect to bonuses and withdrawals.
The house edge
| Game and bet | House edge | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| European roulette | 2.70% | One zero on 37 pockets |
| American roulette | 5.26% | Two zeros on 38 pockets |
| Baccarat, banker bet | about 1.06% | 5% commission on wins |
| Baccarat, tie bet | high | The payout does not cover the rarity |
| Blackjack | depends on rules | Blackjack payout, dealer actions |
Roulette figures follow from the wheel and are the same everywhere under standard rules. In baccarat and blackjack the edge depends on the specific table's rules, so read its information panel.
What an evening costs
Knowing the edge, you can estimate the average cost of a session. Example: European roulette, stake 2, 120 spins. Total staked 240; expected cost about 2.70%, roughly 6.50. That is an average — the actual result can be anything — but it shows the price of the entertainment and lets you compare tables.
Tables and bonuses
Precisely because the house edge on tables is low, bonus terms usually give them a reduced contribution or exclude them. If roulette contributes 10%, a bet of 10 counts as 1. Bets covering almost the whole table — red and black at once, for example — are often forbidden too. Table players usually do better without a bonus. See Wagering.
Betting systems
Doubling systems that raise the stake after each loss do not change the house edge. They convert many small wins into a rare but very large loss when a losing streak outlasts the budget or the table limit. No system makes a table game profitable for the player in the long run.
RNG and live tables
Table games come both with random number generators and as live, dealer-led games. With the same rules, the maths is the same; pace and minimum stakes differ. Live play is covered on Live casino, slots on Slots.
The table and your withdrawal
A low edge means money "lives" longer at a table than in many slots. That is good for entertainment but does not change the fact that the edge favours the house over time. If you finish ahead, request a withdrawal and leave it alone: Withdrawals.