The house edge

One example is enough to see the principle. A roulette wheel has thirty-seven pockets; a single number pays thirty-five to one. True chance: one in thirty-seven. It is paid as though it were one in thirty-six. The gap is the edge.

It bites per stake, not per evening

This is the point most often misunderstood. The edge applies to every single round, which is why the expected loss hangs on total turnover rather than on the balance. Stake one hundred euros ten times over and you have generated a thousand euros of turnover, and that is what the edge is calculated on.

Why a high bonus wagering requirement costs money

For exactly that reason. A wagering factor obliges you to place stakes, and every stake carries the edge. At four per cent and 3,500 euros of required turnover that comes to 140 euros the bonus has to win back before it is worth anything. The arithmetic in detail.

How it relates to the payout percentage

The two describe the same thing from opposite sides: a payout percentage of 96 % corresponds to a house edge of 4 %. On slot machines the percentage is published; at table games the edge follows from the rules. That is why a table game comes with a derivation and a slot machine with a source. RTP and volatility.

What it is not

• Not a guarantee for the evening. It is an expected value over a great many rounds; a single session can end anywhere.
• Not a setting the operator makes. At table games it follows from the rules, on slot machines from the variant the manufacturer supplies.
• Not an argument against playing. It is a price. It should simply be known before it is paid.

Where the buttons on this page lead

The casino the buttons on this page lead to

A cashier in six currencies, a licence that can be looked up in the authority's own register, and a bonus whose wagering factor is written as a number in the terms.

• 150 % on the first depositfrom the equivalent of 20 euro
• Six currencies at the cashiercard is not one of them
• Licence in a public registersearchable by domain

To the cashier

18+ · play only with a limit you set beforehand

More on the guides

The remaining pages of this section, each on a question of its own. Guides pulls them together.