House Edge, Worked Out: What Each Live Table Bet Costs per ₱100
By PH444 Editorial Team
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Every figure on this page comes from one formula, and the question it answers is simple: what is house edge, and how much does each common live table bet cost? The method computed nine bets from their own payouts and probabilities instead of copying a published chart, with the working shown beside each one. The result: the edge is whatever share of each stake a game retains on average over many rounds, and across nine live-table bets it spans roughly 1.06% up to 14.36%.
House edge defined, with the formula
House edge = 100% − the sum of (chance of each outcome × what it returns per ₱100, stake included).
Worked example, European roulette, ₱100 straight up: the number hits 1 time in 37 and returns ₱3,600; the other 36 times it returns nothing. Average return = 3,600 ÷ 37 = ₱97.30, so the edge is 2.70%. RTP is the same number from the player’s side: 97.30%.
Two limits apply. The edge describes thousands of rounds, not one session, where anything can happen. It also prices a single bet type, so two bets at the same table can carry very different edges.
Nine live table bets ranked, cheapest first
| Rank | Bet | Payout | Edge | Working |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Baccarat, Banker | 1:1 less 5% | 1.06% | 45.86% × 0.95 − 44.62%, ties push |
| 2 | Baccarat, Player | 1:1 | 1.24% | 44.62% − 45.86%, ties push |
| 3 | French roulette, even money with La Partage | 1:1, half back on zero | 1.35% | half a stake on 1 spin in 37 |
| 4 | European roulette, any bet | 35:1 down to 1:1 | 2.70% | 1 ÷ 37 |
| 5 | Sicbo, Small or Big | 1:1 | 2.78% | 6 triples ÷ 216 |
| 6 | Dragon Tiger, Dragon or Tiger | 1:1, half lost on a tie | 3.73% | half a stake on 7.47% of rounds |
| 7 | American roulette, any bet but the five-number | 35:1 down to 1:1 | 5.26% | 2 ÷ 38 |
| 8 | Color game, one colour | 1:1, 2:1, 3:1 | 7.87% | 17 ÷ 216 |
| 9 | Baccarat, Tie | 8:1 | 14.36% | 9.52% × 8 − 90.48% |
Baccarat shares are for an eight-deck shoe; payouts are the common ones, and a room that pays less moves its bet down the list. Each figure’s full working sits on its own page: baccarat’s commission maths, the roulette pocket count and the sicbo bet-by-bet edges.
Two well-known games stay off the ladder on purpose. Blackjack has no single edge, because your decisions and the table’s rules set it. Crazy Time, whose return Evolution states as 94.41% to 96.08% in theory, implies an edge somewhere between 3.92% and 5.59%.
Edge per hour: why speed matters
Expected cost = rounds × average stake × edge. Labelled arithmetic: 60 rounds of ₱100 on Banker cost about ₱64 over the long run, on Small at sicbo about ₱167, and on the baccarat Tie about ₱862. A speed room that deals twice as many rounds doubles each of those, with no change to the edge itself.
That is why the edge figure alone undersells fast games. A low-edge bet played at high speed can cost more per hour than a higher-edge bet played slowly.
What house edge does not tell you
- Swing. Two bets with the same edge can behave very differently: a straight-up number and red/black both keep 2.70% on a European wheel, but one wins once in 37 spins and the other almost every second spin.
- Side bets and multipliers. Lightning fees, Super 6 and similar features reprice the game; run the formula again with their paytables.
- Your result tonight. Short sessions scatter widely around the average in both directions.
RTP, volatility, turnover and the rest each have an entry in the casino terms glossary on the blog, and the live dealer section’s front page links every table game measured here.
How to Get Started
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List every outcome with its chance
Write down what can happen, how likely each result is, and what it returns per ₱100 staked, stake included.
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Multiply each pair, then add
Chance times return, summed over all outcomes, gives the average return. Take that from 100; what is left over is the edge.
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Turn the edge into pesos per hour
Rounds per hour × average stake × edge is the expected hourly cost. Compare that with the budget you set.
