Start with your budget and your patience
- Session budget: decide the kwacha amount first. Small budgets last longer on low-edge, low-volatility games.
- Speed: a slot spin takes three seconds, a live blackjack hand closer to a minute. More rounds per hour means more of your money passes the house edge.
- Decisions: blackjack, video poker and poker reward learning. Slots, roulette and baccarat are pure chance, so no system changes their edge.
House edge by game
RTP (return to player) and house edge are two sides of the same number: a slot paying back 96% keeps 4%. Our guide to RTP at new casinos shows where to find the figure for each game.
| Game | Bet or version | House edge |
|---|---|---|
| Blackjack | Basic strategy, 3:2 payout | About 0.5% |
| Baccarat | Banker | 1.06% |
| Baccarat | Player | 1.24% |
| Craps | Pass line | 1.41% |
| European roulette | Any bet | 2.70% |
| Sic bo | Big or small | 2.78% |
| Slots | 96% RTP | 4% |
| American roulette | Most bets | 5.26% |
| Baccarat | Tie at 8:1 | 14.36% |
What each game asks of you
Roulette
Simple to follow and slow enough to pace a budget. Choose the single-zero European wheel over the American double-zero wheel; see our roulette page.
Blackjack
The table game where your choices change the result. With basic strategy and a 3:2 payout the edge drops to around half a percent. More on our blackjack page.
Baccarat
No decisions beyond the bet. Banker and Player are among the cheapest bets in the casino; the Tie bet is one of the dearest. See baccarat.
Slots
The biggest single wins and the widest choice, at a higher edge than most table bets. Volatility matters as much as RTP. See our slots page.
Craps and sic bo
Dice games with dozens of bets. The plain bets are cheap, the long-shot proposition bets are expensive.
Try before you stake
Most new casinos let you open slots and RNG tables in demo mode, often without an account. Play twenty or thirty rounds for free to learn the screen and the pace before you put kwacha on it. Live dealer tables have no demo, so watch a few rounds before you sit down.
If you are completely new, our list of games for beginners picks the easiest starting points.