Roulette, blackjack and baccarat
The arithmetic behind the classic tables: where the zero, the dealer's last move and the commission put the edge, shown with worked numbers.
Table games are old enough that their arithmetic is fully worked out. These pages write the sums down bet by bet, including the cases where a rule variant shifts the margin.
- Where the roulette house edge comes from
Roulette pays as if the wheel had 36 pockets, but it has 37 or 38. See the edge on every bet, the double-zero cost and why doubling up cannot fix it.
- Where the blackjack house edge comes from
The blackjack edge comes from one rule: the player acts first and a bust loses at once. See the dealer's numbers, the 6:5 payout cost and insurance maths.
- Baccarat house edge: banker, player and tie bets compared
Baccarat has three bets and three different prices. See the banker, player and tie house edge for an eight-deck shoe, the 5% commission and the tie payout.