The Top 5 Casino Games with the Best Odds
When you enter a casino or browse through the many games at LeoVegas, you’re faced with countless games all competing for your attention.
While every casino game is designed with a house edge, some offer stronger odds than others. Understanding which games provide better chances can help you make more informed choices about where to focus your play.
This guide highlights casino games known for offering the most favourable odds, outlining the features that make them stand out and why they are often considered stronger options both on the casino floor and online.
Important Considerations for Finding the Best Odds
The odds in casino games aren’t fixed across the board. They can shift depending on the rules in play, the strategies available, the number of decks or type of wheels used, and whether skill has any influence on the outcome.
Understanding these factors makes it easier to recognize which games hold a genuine advantage.
Below are some of the key elements to consider before deciding where to focus your attention.
Playing with the Best Strategy
One of the most important factors influencing your odds is how well you approach the decisions within a game. Blackjack demonstrates this clearly. If you make choices at random about when to hit, stand, double down, or split, you hand the casino a much stronger advantage than necessary.
The difference comes when you follow basic strategy, a system of rules developed to identify the mathematically correct play in every possible scenario.
By sticking to these rules, the house edge can be reduced to about 0.5%. This contrast shows how much impact informed, probability-based decisions have compared to impulsive or poorly considered ones.
Rules Make a Big Difference
Two games that appear identical can offer very different odds once small rule variations come into play.
Take roulette as an example: American wheels include both a 0 and a 00, which raises the house edge to 5.26%. European wheels, by contrast, use only a single 0, bringing the house edge down to 2.70%.
Blackjack provides another clear case. Tables that return 3:2 for a blackjack are far stronger than those offering only 6:5. Paying attention to these details is essential, since what looks like the same game at first glance can produce very different results.
Skill vs Chance
Some casino games rely entirely on chance, while others allow skill to have more influence on the outcome. Slot machines and keno fall into the first category, since there is nothing a player can do to affect the result.
Games like poker and blackjack that are part of the latter group introduce decision-making that can meaningfully improve the odds. Skill-based games demand more learning and practice, though they value thoughtful choices. Games of pure chance are easier to pick up, but they usually come with less favourable odds.
House Edge and RTP (Return to Player)
As established, every casino game is built with a house edge, which is the percentage the casino expects to retain in the long run.
The counterpart to this is the Return to Player, or RTP, which shows how much of the total play is designed to be given back over time.
For example, if a slot has a 96% RTP, then on $100 in wagers, the game is expected to return about $96 in results, with the remaining $4 representing the house edge.
Understanding these figures makes it easier to identify which games provide stronger long-term odds.
The Casino Games with the Best Odds
Now that the key factors affecting odds have been outlined, it’s time to look at specific games that consistently distinguish themselves for offering stronger chances than most.
Each of the following titles is well known for rules and mechanics that can tilt the balance a bit closer to the player’s side, making them reliable options that deliver better outcomes in both physical casinos and online.
Blackjack
Among the most recognized card games in casinos, blackjack is played directly against the dealer rather than other participants at the table. Each hand begins with two cards, and the goal is to reach a total as close to 21 as possible without going over.
Participants can draw additional cards (hit), keep their hand as it is (stand), or, in certain situations, choose other options, including splitting or doubling down. If the total exceeds 21, the hand automatically busts and loses.
One of the main reasons blackjack remains a staple casino game is its relatively low house edge compared to most alternatives. The exact percentage varies depending on the table rules, but when played correctly, it is among the smallest in the casino.
The strongest way to keep the odds favourable is, as mentioned, by using basic strategy.
This is a mathematically developed guide that identifies the best move for every situation, including when to hit, stand, split, or double down, based on both your hand and the dealer’s visible card. Consistently applying basic strategy can reduce the house edge to around 0.5% or even lower.
Blackjack also stands apart from chance-driven games like slots or roulette because decision-making directly affects the outcome. While chance still determines which cards are dealt, the choices made during play have a measurable impact.
Baccarat
Often associated with high-stakes tables, baccarat is in fact straightforward and easy to learn. The game is played between two hands, known as the Player hand and the Banker hand.
Once the cards are dealt, no further choices are made; the outcome is determined automatically. The objective is to bet on which hand will finish closer to nine, or on the possibility of a tie. If a hand’s total exceeds nine, only the second digit counts. For example, a total of 15 is treated as five.
Baccarat is also regarded as favourable compared to many other casino games because of its relatively low house edge. A wager on the Banker hand carries a house edge of about 1.06%, making it one of the lowest available.
Betting on the Player hand is only slightly less advantageous, with a house edge of around 1.24%. The tie bet has a house edge that typically exceeds 14%, which is far less practical.
Since the game requires no decisions beyond placing the initial wager, baccarat is far simpler than strategy-based games like blackjack or poker.
Craps
Among dice games, craps often appears complex because of the large table layout and numerous betting options. In reality, the core idea is straightforward. A shooter rolls two dice, and bets are placed on the outcome.
The most common option is the pass line bet, which wins if the shooter rolls a seven or eleven on the first roll. It loses immediately if a two, three, or twelve is rolled. Any other number becomes the shooter’s “point,” and the pass line bet then wins if that number is rolled again before a seven appears.
What makes craps distinctive is how the house edge shifts depending on the type of bet. The pass line bet carries a house edge of about 1.41%, while the don’t pass bet, essentially the opposite side of the wager, sits slightly lower at around 1.36%. Both are considered strong options compared to many other casino bets.
Craps also offers a wager with no house edge at all: the odds bet. This additional wager becomes available once a point is established on either the pass line or don’t pass bet. It pays true odds based on the actual probability of the dice, making it one of the fairest options in the casino.
The only restriction is that it must link to an existing pass line or don’t pass bet. When combined, these bets create some of the most favourable outcomes available in any casino game.
Pai Gow Poker
This casino card game blends elements of traditional poker with the ancient Chinese game of Pai Gow.
Each participant receives seven cards and must arrange them into two hands: a five-card high hand and a two-card low hand. The five-card hand must always outrank the two-card hand according to standard poker rankings.
A win requires both hands to outrank the dealer’s. If only one does, the round results in a push and the wager is returned.
The house edge in Pai Gow Poker usually sits around 2.5% when the dealer serves as the banker, though this can vary depending on the specific rules in place. A distinctive feature of the game is the frequency of pushes, which reduces the pace of losses and often allows sessions to last longer compared to many other table games. This slower tempo, paired with the relatively gentle house edge, makes it one of the more forgiving casino card games.
When compared to other options, Pai Gow Poker generally falls into the middle ground. The game does not match the favourable returns of baccarat banker bets or blackjack played with basic strategy, but it is considerably stronger than poker-style games like Caribbean Stud or Three Card Poker, where the house edge can exceed 5%.
The combination of moderate odds and steady rhythm makes Pai Gow Poker a sound alternative that offers a less volatile option.
European Roulette
In this classic casino game, bets are placed on where a small ball will land on a spinning wheel. The wheel has 37 numbered pockets: numbers 1 through 36 (split evenly between red and black) and a single green zero.
A wide variety of wagers are available, ranging from simple even-money bets like red or black, odd or even, to more specific bets on single numbers or small groups of numbers. The dealer spins the wheel in one direction and launches the ball in the opposite direction. As the ball slows, it comes to rest in one of the pockets, which determines the winning outcome.
The house edge in European roulette exists because of the single zero. Without it, even-money bets would offer a true fifty-fifty balance.
The zero tips that balance slightly in the casino’s favour, producing a house edge of 2.7%. This makes European roulette one of the fairest versions available.
By contrast, American roulette includes both a zero and a double zero, which increases the house edge to 5.26%. Over time, this difference means European roulette is far less costly to play than the American version.
European roulette is often chosen for its reasonable odds and straightforward play. There are no strategies to memorize or difficult choices to make, unlike in blackjack or poker. Each spin is entirely random, which means no decisions can reduce your chances.