House Edge & RTP – Learn How to Manipulate the Odds

If you are into the world of online casinos, you have undoubtedly heard the phrases ‘house edge’ and ‘RTP’. Those terms are extremely important to players and operators alike, as they are what earns them money at the end of the day. In this article, we will take a detailed look at house edge and RTP and how they affect you and the casino you are playing at.

What Exactly Is House Edge?

House edge is a mathematical advantage that the casino has over the players in a given game of chance. This is the engine that actually allows casinos to make quite a lot of money, even though they also pay players what they have won. Casinos have the legal right to set a house edge in their games. It is all about probabilities, and making each spin of the roulette wheel, any given card, and every throw of the dice unpredictable.

The house edge of any given game is calculated as a percentage. To give you a better idea how it’s calculated, let’s take the classic European roulette as an example. The roulette wheel features 18 red numbers, 18 black numbers, and one green zero pocket. If you bet £10 on black and win, you will get a payout of 1:1, which means a total of £20 (£10 profit + the £10 you wagered). What many people don’t realise is that the chance of black hitting of every spin is not 50%!

Let’s look into the matter and explain why that is so. On the roulette wheel, there are 18 black pockets and 19 pockets that are not black. That means that the odds of black winning are 18/37, or in other words –48.64%. Out of the 37 possible outcomes of the spin, you actually win at 18, and lose at 19 – which effectively makes you lose £10. Now, let’s do the math and calculate the house edge on even money bets when playing European Roulette.

18/37 – 19/37 = – 1/37 = – 0.027 = – 2.7%

This is how house edge works – even if they have a number of winning rounds, the players are expected to eventually lose. European Roulette has a house edge of 2.7%, which is admittedly much lower than the house edge at American Roulette but, still, it is there for a reason – it makes sure that the players will lose in the long run. Luckily, there are steps you could take to minimise your losses. There are many variables, so with the right kind of strategy, a good player can decrease the house edge to almost nothing. And guess what – if you continue reading we’ll tell you all about how you can manipulate the house edge.

How About RTP?

RTP and house edge are two sides of the same coin. The former stands for Return-To-Player, and represents the expected return of the money a player has wagered on a certain game. It is the opposite of house edge, so it is shown as a percentage again. In European Roulette, players have an estimated RTP of 97.30%. This shows that, in theory, for every £100 that you have wagered, you can expect to receive £97.30 back – a loss of £2.70.

Casino Games with Low Casino Advantage

Different types of games have different inherent house edge percentages. Even more, different titles from the same genre can have a vastly different casino advantage. It all depends on the game mechanics – some features can contribute to the house edge, while others can contribute to the RTP. We have made our research and come up with a list of casino games with very high RTP for you to check out.

All those games are developed by reputable companies and can be found at many safe online casinos in the UK. Moreover, the games on our list are quite a hit among players – not only because of their low casino advantage, but also because they have great graphics, interface, and gameplay. So, make sure you give them a try – you will not regret it.

Manipulating the House Edge

Depending on the type of game you are playing, you can use a variety of tactics and strategies in order to lower the house edge. There are actually a lot of books written on the subject, specifically for blackjack and roulette. We will not bother you with in-depth strategies and advanced mathematics in this article. Instead, we will give you some simple pointers to get you acquainted with a few popular systems that you can use right away.

Roulette

Over the years, many people have tried to come up with a sure system for winning at roulette. As a result, quite a lot of strategies have emerged – the Martingale, Fibonacci, D’Alembert, Labouchere, etc. None of them works as intended, however. Roulette’s inherent casino edge cannot be easily beaten. You, on the other hand, can make sure it is reduced to a minimum by playing the right roulette game. Here are our expert tips.

Find a single zero roulette that is played by French rules, since they have the highest RTP percentage. The La Partage rule boosts the RTP even further, making the house edge really, really low. Do not play American Roulette – the two zero pockets increase the casino advantage to around 5.26%, which is really bad for long playing sessions.

Blackjack

Blackjack is a game with relatively low house edge, due to the fact that it’s not entirely a game of chance. Sure, the cards are dealt randomly but the way you play matters even more. The best thing you can do to increase your RTP is to pick a game that has higher RTP than the others. Blackjack Switch by Playtech and Classic Blackjack by Microgaming are great examples of such games.

Utilising a good blackjack strategy will also increase your odds of winning in the long run. There are plenty of materials that you can find online, including special charts that outline the best possible move for every combination. However, when you’re picking a strategy chart, make sure you choose one that is designed specifically for the blackjack variation you intend to play.

Video Poker

Video poker generally has some of the highest RTP percentages in the whole industry. Also, it is one of the few games that, if played right, can be advantageous to the player! There are video poker games that have RTP of over 100%! They are not hard to find at all, and you can play them at almost all reputable online casinos. A nice tactic for further boosting the RTP of a video poker game is to increase the bet level. Higher bet levels usually have much better payouts, which lowers the house edge considerably.

Understanding the House Edge & RTP Is Essential

Understanding house edge and RTP and knowing how to manipulate them will definitely make you a much better gambler. No matter what your preferred casino game is, you should always select a variation with lower casino advantage, that is lower house edge or, in other words, higher RTP. Then, do whatever you can to try and lower it even further. Practice makes perfect, so soon you will be able to get those big winnings you’ve been dreaming of. Good luck!