House edge explained: how long your money really lasts
Every casino game is priced. The house edge is the price, charged as a small slice of every bet. Combine it with how fast you play, and you get the number that matters: how long your money lasts.
House edge and RTP
RTP (return to player) is how much of every bet a game pays back over the long run. House edge is the rest: what the casino keeps. They're two sides of one number. A slot with 96% RTP has a 4% house edge, so over many spins it keeps about $4 of every $100 you bet.
"Long run" matters. In any single session you'll be well above or below the average, because results are random and high-volatility slots swing hard. But the more you bet, the closer you get to the edge. Nobody beats it over time; you just choose how fast you pay it.
Cost per hour = stake × bets per hour × house edge
$1 spins, 600 an hour, 4% edge = about $24 an hour on average. That's why speed counts as much as the edge.
How long $100 lasts, game by game
At $1 a bet and a typical pace for each game. Averages only: real sessions on volatile slots end much sooner or much later.
| Game | Type | RTP | House edge | Bets per hour | Average cost per hour | $100 lasts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blackjack | Table | 99.5% | 0.50% | 150 | $1 | 133.3 h |
| European roulette | Table | 97.3% | 2.70% | 120 | $3 | 30.9 h |
| Gates of Olympus (top version) | Slot | 96.5% | 3.50% | 600 | $21 | 4.8 h |
| Le Bandit (top version) | Slot | 96.34% | 3.66% | 600 | $22 | 4.6 h |
| Book of Dead (top version) | Slot | 96.21% | 3.79% | 600 | $23 | 4.4 h |
| Starburst | Slot | 96.09% | 3.91% | 600 | $23 | 4.3 h |
| Gates of Olympus (middle version) | Slot | 95.51% | 4.49% | 600 | $27 | 3.7 h |
| Gates of Olympus (lowest version) | Slot | 94.5% | 5.50% | 600 | $33 | 3.0 h |
| Book of Dead (middle version) | Slot | 94.25% | 5.75% | 600 | $35 | 2.9 h |
| Le Bandit (middle version) | Slot | 94.23% | 5.77% | 600 | $35 | 2.9 h |
| Le Bandit (lowest version) | Slot | 92.17% | 7.83% | 600 | $47 | 2.1 h |
| Book of Dead (lowest version) | Slot | 91.25% | 8.75% | 600 | $53 | 1.9 h |
Try the bankroll simulator to see how real sessions scatter around these averages.
Three ways to pay less
- Play the top RTP version. The same slot can run at several RTPs depending on the casino. On Gates of Olympus, the lowest version takes over 1.5 times as much of every bet as the top one. See every version.
- Slow down. Fewer bets an hour means less lost an hour at the same edge. Turbo spin is the most expensive button in the casino.
- Get some of it back. Cash rakeback returns a share of the house edge on every bet. It's the only thing that genuinely lowers the price. Casinos that pay it in cash.
This is the idea behind the Rinse Index: we rank casinos on how long your money lasts, which is mostly the house edge you actually pay there.
House edge questions
What is the house edge?
The share of every bet a casino game keeps on average over the long run. It is 100% minus the RTP: a 96% RTP slot has a 4% house edge, so on average it keeps $4 of every $100 you bet.
Which casino game has the lowest house edge?
Blackjack played with basic strategy, at around 0.5% on good rules. Among in-house crypto games, many dice and crash games run at 1%. Slots usually range from about 3% to 9% depending on the game and the RTP version the casino runs.
Can you beat the house edge?
Not over the long run on games of chance. Short sessions swing well above and below the average, which is why people win. But the more you bet, the closer your results get to the edge. Rakeback is the one thing that genuinely lowers it.
Why does my money go faster on slots than on roulette when the edge is similar?
Speed. Slots are often played at hundreds of spins an hour, roulette at around 120 bets. The house edge applies to every bet, so more bets an hour means more lost an hour, even at a similar edge.