The games compared
| Game | Rules | House edge | Pace |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baccarat | Pick Banker or Player | 1.06% on Banker | Medium |
| European roulette | Pick numbers or colours | 2.70% | Slow live, fast RNG |
| Blackjack | Learn the basic chart | About 0.5% by the chart | Medium |
| Video poker | Hold or discard five cards | About 0.5% to 3% | Fast |
| Slots | Press spin | Usually 3% to 5% | Very fast |
The table above ranks games by rules, edge and pace together. A game that is easy to learn but fast, such as slots, can cost more per hour than a harder game that runs slowly. Read the edge column and the pace column as a pair, because the edge is charged on every round you play.
Baccarat: one choice per round and a low Banker edge
Baccarat is a card game with one decision per round. Baccarat gives you two hands to back, Player and Banker, and the dealer draws every card by fixed rules. You never choose to hit or stand. Cards from two to nine count at face value, aces count one, and tens and court cards count zero. Only the last digit of a hand's total counts, so a hand of seven and eight is worth five. Our tips for card games explain how the drawing rules work once you want more detail.
Baccarat's Banker bet has a house edge of 1.06% after the 5% commission. Baccarat's Player bet has a house edge of 1.24%. Baccarat's tie bet pays 8:1 and has a house edge of 14.36%. These figures come from the game-type facts in our knowledge base, which assume eight decks.
The Banker bet wins slightly more often than the Player bet, which is why the casino charges a commission on it. A beginner can back Banker every round and ignore the side bets. The player or banker pair side bet pays 10:1 and has a house edge of 17.83%, so it costs far more than the main bets.
European roulette: simple bets and one flat house edge
European roulette uses a wheel with 37 pockets, numbered 0 to 36. European roulette lets you bet on one number, a group of numbers or a colour, and the ball decides the rest. Every bet on a single-zero wheel has a house edge of 2.7%, according to our knowledge base. The single zero is the source of that edge. The wheel layout is printed on the table, and the bet names are easy to learn there. Read our tips for table games for the bet names and the table etiquette at live tables.
Even-money bets cost less where la partage applies. La partage returns half of an even-money stake when the ball lands on zero, which cuts the edge on those bets to 1.35%. Avoid American wheels with a double zero, because most bets there carry a house edge of 5.26%.
Blackjack: the lowest edge once you learn the chart
Blackjack asks you to beat the dealer's hand without going over 21. Blackjack gives you a choice each round: hit, stand, double or split. A basic strategy chart tells you the best choice for every hand, so a beginner can play correctly by reading it. With basic strategy, a 3:2 blackjack payout and a dealer who hits soft 17, the house edge is 0.46% on six decks. The same game with a 6:5 payout has a house edge of 1.82%. Check the payout printed on the table before you sit down. The guide to choosing a game shows how payout rules change the cost of every table.
Blackjack punishes guessing. A player who never hits a hard 12 or more, but otherwise follows basic strategy under Atlantic City rules, faces a house edge of 3.91%. Keep the chart open beside you for the first sessions and follow it even when a hand feels wrong.
Slots and video poker: easy to start but costlier per hour
Slots need no skill, which makes slots the easiest game to start. Slots also run fastest, so the house edge is applied to many more stakes per hour. For example, a S$1 spin every four seconds stakes S$900 in an hour. At the 3% to 5% edge in the table above, the expected cost of that hour is S$27 to S$45.
Video poker sits between slots and table games. Video poker pays by hand ranking, and your hold-or-discard choices change the edge, which is why the range runs from about 0.5% to 3%. Check the pay table before you play, because two machines of the same game can pay differently.
How to pick your first game
Choose by pace first. A slow game lets you learn the rules without losing S$ quickly. Baccarat and live roulette turn at a measured pace, while RNG roulette and slots do not.
Choose by the number of decisions second. Baccarat needs one choice, roulette needs a bet type, and blackjack needs a chart. Choose by house edge third, and compare edges only between bets of the same kind.
Learn without paying
Most RNG games have a demo mode with the same maths as the real game. Play 50 rounds of demo to learn the bets and the pace. Live tables have no demo, so start those at the table minimum.
A demo has no stake pressure, so treat it as a test of understanding and not as a forecast of results. Write down the bets you used and check each one against the house edge above. Move to real stakes only when you can explain every bet you place.
First-session rules
- Bring a fixed amount, for example S$50, and stop when it is gone.
- Avoid side bets until you know the main game.
- Prefer French roulette with la partage where you find it: even-money bets then cost 1.35%.
- Read how to start playing for account and payment steps.
A stop limit works only if you set it before the first round. Set the S$ amount and the session length together, then leave when either one runs out. Use the deposit and loss limits in your account settings, where the casino offers them, so the rule holds when willpower does not.