What is house edge? The meaning in casino games
House edge is the share of every stake that a casino game keeps on average over a very long run of rounds. It comes from paying winning bets slightly less than the true odds. On a single-zero roulette wheel it is 2.70% of each bet, which leaves a return to player of 97.30%.
Key facts
| Fact | Value | As of | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single-zero roulette | 37 pockets; house edge 2.70% (1/37) on every standard bet Derived from the 35:1 straight-up payout | October 2026 | 1 |
| Double-zero roulette | 38 pockets; house edge 5.26% (2/38) Derived | October 2026 | 1 |
| Lightning Roulette straight-up | 29:1 without a multiplier; 50x-500x on Lucky Numbers Derived from the 35:1 straight-up payout | October 2026 | 2 |
House edge is the margin built into a casino game: the percentage of each stake the game is expected to keep when you average the results of a very large number of rounds. It is a long-run average, not a fee taken from each bet. Any single round still ends in a full win or a full loss.
The edge exists because winning bets are paid at less than the true odds, and the difference stays with the game. Return to player, or RTP, is the same gap seen from the other side, so RTP plus house edge always equals 100%. The RTP figures that live casino providers publish can be read this way.
A roulette example
A European roulette wheel has 37 pockets: the numbers 1 to 36 and one green zero. A straight-up bet on one number pays 35:1, as Real Dealer Studios sets out in its roulette guide. A payout that matched the odds would be 36:1.
Illustrative example: you stake KES 100 on each of the 37 numbers for one spin, KES 3,700 in total. One number wins and hands back KES 3,600 (KES 3,500 in winnings plus its KES 100 stake). The missing KES 100 is 100 / 3,700 of the money staked, which is 2.70%.
Red, black, odd, even and the dozens all leave the zero uncovered, and each is paid as if the zero did not exist. That is why every standard bet on this wheel carries the same 2.70%. A wheel with a second zero has 38 pockets and an edge of 2 / 38, or 5.26%, as the guide to live roulette bets and payouts shows bet by bet.
Why the edge changes from game to game
Each bet has its own payout and its own chance of winning, so each bet has its own edge. In baccarat, a winning Banker bet is paid even money less a 5% commission. In blackjack, a natural paid at 6:5 returns KES 120 profit on KES 100, against KES 150 at 3:2, and that smaller payout widens the edge.
Game variants move the figure as well. Evolution's Lightning Roulette pays a straight-up bet without a multiplier 29:1 and adds multipliers of 50x to 500x on one to five Lucky Numbers per round, so its edge is not the plain 2.70%. The payout reference for roulette, blackjack and baccarat lists the main bets together, and the comparison of live dealer and RNG table games explains where the two formats differ.
Questions and answers
Is house edge the same thing as RTP?
No, but the two describe the same gap from opposite sides. RTP is the share of all stakes a game pays back over the long run, and house edge is the share it keeps. Together they make 100%. A single-zero roulette wheel with a 2.70% edge therefore has an RTP of 97.30%, and a double-zero wheel with a 5.26% edge returns 94.74%.
Does a 2.70% house edge mean I lose KES 2.70 on every KES 100 bet?
No. Each spin ends with the whole stake won or lost, so a single bet never loses exactly 2.70%. The figure is the average across a very large number of spins. Over one evening the real result can sit far above or far below that average, which is why the edge describes the game and says nothing about your next round.
Sources
- Real Dealer Studios, How to play roulette, accessed 29 October 2026.
- Evolution (games.evolution.com), Lightning Roulette | Live Casino Games | Evolution Games, accessed 29 October 2026.
- Evolution (games.evolution.com), Live Baccarat and Sic Bo | Evolution Games, accessed 29 October 2026.