All casino games are fun. A trip to the casino is supposed to be entertaining, after all. But some games will cost you more to play than others. Experienced gamblers know which casino games offer the lowest house edges, and that’s what they play for the most part: blackjack, craps, baccarat, video poker, maybe even some slots if there’s a juicy progressive jackpot up top.

But which game offers the lowest house edge of them all? There is no one answer to that question. Most games have different situations that come up, offering you different odds on your bet at different times. We can see this by comparing craps and baccarat; sometimes craps has the bigger edge, sometimes baccarat.

 

Craps

The most basic plays in craps are the Pass/Come bet, which has a house edge of 1.41%, and the Don’t Pass/Don’t Come bet at 1.36%. Not too shabby. Once the point is established, you can also lay odds or take odds with zero added house edge. That makes craps a favourite for gamblers who like action and aren’t too concerned about making “plus-EV” bets.

Having said that, there are other bets you can make in craps that have much bigger house edges. The highest of these is the Any 7 bet, where you get paid at 4:1 if the shooter rolls a 7. The true odds for a 7 coming up are 5:1, giving the house a hefty 16.67% edge. That’s the price people pay to express their love for Lucky Number 7.

 

Baccarat

The odds in punto banco baccarat depend on the number of decks being used, but they don’t vary much – if you’re betting on either the Player (punto) or the Banker (banco). For example, if it’s just one deck, the house edge is 1.29% on the Player and 1.01% on the Banker. With an eight-deck shoe, it’s 1.24% on the Player and 1.06% on the Banker.

There’s one other standard bet you can make in baccarat: the Tie. The house edge depends on the number of decks and whether you get paid out at 9:1 (like you do at Bodog Casino) or only 8:1. If it’s the former, the house edge is 4.85% with an eight-deck shoe. If it’s the latter, you’re looking at an edge of 14.4%. And that goes up to 15.7% with a single deck. Bet accordingly.