Understand how
online gambling works

Slots

Slots take more money than every other casino game combined, and they are the game where what you see on screen has the least to do with what is actually happening. One fact explains most of it: the result exists before the reels start to spin.

Typical RTP, online slots90% to 97%, set per configuration

Roulette

Roulette is the clearest game in the casino to analyse, because every payout is fixed and every probability is countable. One quantity decides what it costs you, and it is not the bet you choose.

House edge, European wheel2.70%

Blackjack

Blackjack is the counterexample to most of this site: a casino game where what you do genuinely changes what it costs. That does not make it beatable, and the reason it stays profitable for the operator has nothing to do with the cards.

House edge, accurate play, favourable rulesAbout 0.5%

Baccarat

Baccarat looks ceremonial and plays itself: every draw follows a fixed table, so the only decision you ever make is which of three bets to back. Two of them are among the cheapest in the casino, and the third is one of the most expensive, sitting an inch away on the same felt.

House edge, banker bet, 5% commissionAbout 1.06%

Craps

Craps looks like chaos and prices like a map: the bets nearest you are among the cheapest in the casino, one of them is the only zero-edge wager in the building, and the loud middle of the table charges more than ten times as much. Learning the geography is learning the game.

House edge, pass line1.41%

Video poker

Video poker is the rare casino game whose cost is published where you sit: the pay table. Two machines with identical screens and identical cards can differ by two full percentage points because one pays 9 for a full house and the other pays 8. Nothing else in the casino rewards reading small print this directly.

Return, 9/6 Jacks or Better99.54% with optimal play

Live dealer

A live dealer game streams a human dealing real cards or spinning a real wheel into the same betting interface as any online table. The camera changes trust, pace and atmosphere; it changes nothing about the price. The maths of every game on this site applies unaltered, and the one variable a live table genuinely moves, rounds per hour, works in your favour.

House edge vs the RNG versionIdentical, rule for rule

Crash games

A crash game shows a multiplier climbing from 1.00x until it stops, and pays whoever cashed out first. The interface says the skill is timing; the distribution says otherwise. The crash point is drawn before the curve starts, the house edge is folded into the draw, and every cash-out target, timid or greedy, costs exactly the same.

Where the result comes fromDrawn before the round starts

RTP

RTP is the share of everything wagered that a game returns to players on average, over millions of rounds. The remainder is the house edge. Neither number describes a single session.

House edge

The house edge is the fixed percentage of each stake the operator keeps on average. It is a property of the rules, so it applies identically to a beginner and to an expert on games of pure chance.

Volatility

Volatility does not change what a game costs on average. It changes the spread of outcomes, and therefore how likely you are to run out of money before the average has any chance to show up.

Wagering requirements

Multiply the bonus by its wagering multiple to get the amount you must stake. Multiply that amount by the game's house edge to get the expected cost of unlocking it. If that cost exceeds the bonus, the offer has negative value.

RNG certification

A certified RNG means an accredited lab verified that outcomes are statistically unpredictable and that the game's realised return matches its declared RTP. It guarantees the game is random, not that it is generous: the house edge is certified along with it.