THE HOUSE ALWAYS WINS

EVERY GAMBLER THINKS THEY'RE THE EXCEPTION.

NONE OF THEM ARE.

Every casino game is designed to return less than it takes in, not on bad nights but on average, always. The math is public knowledge, printed right on the machines. Casinos just know most people won't look.

THE HOUSE EDGE

The percentage the house keeps, per game

That built-in cut has a name: the house edge. It's the percentage the casino expects to keep per bet, forever. Over enough bets, your results will converge on these numbers.

Winning sessions happen because of variance, but variance works in both directions and the house edge only works in one. Given enough time, it always collects.

"It's just entertainment" is the most common reframe: treat losses as the price of a good time. But name another form of entertainment that charges 5 to 50 cents on every dollar you put in, every time, with no cap. A movie ticket costs $15 and you keep $15 of value. A $15 roulette bet returns $14.21 on average. The difference funds the casino, and unlike any other entertainment, you don't know the final price until you've already paid it.

Each grid = $100 wagered. Red = house keeps.
Blackjack
typical player
-1.5% 98.5% back
Sports Betting
standard -110
-4.5% 95.5% back
Roulette
American double-zero
-5.26% 94.7% back
Slots
typical average
-8% 92% back
Scratch Tickets
varies by state
-35% 65% back
Lottery (Powerball)
jackpot-dependent
-50% 50% back
Each square = $1. Blackjack: ~0.5% with perfect basic strategy, 1.5% for a typical player, 2-4% without any strategy. Slots from NGCB data. Scratch tickets vary by state (60-75% return). Lottery edge is jackpot-dependent.

THE HOUSE DOESN'T GAMBLE.
YOU DO.

ROULETTE

38 pockets. 18 are yours. 20 are theirs.

American roulette has 18 red, 18 black, and 2 green pockets (0 and 00). Betting red gives you 18/38 odds, or 47.37%. That gap between 47.37% and 50% is a 5.26% house edge on every single bet.

Over 1,000 bets of $5, that edge costs you about $263. The wheel doesn't streak or balance out because each spin is independent: 18 out of 38, every time.

After five reds in a row, black isn't "due." The wheel has no memory. The belief that past results change future odds is called the Gambler's Fallacy, and it's the most widespread error in gambling. The probability is 18/38 on spin one and 18/38 on spin ten thousand.

Winnings also warp your judgment. Once you're up, the profit feels like "free money," so you bet bigger, stay longer, or switch to riskier wagers. Psychologists call this the House Money Effect: people take risks with gains they would never take with their own stake. The casino is counting on it. Most winning sessions end as losing sessions because the player stayed at the table long enough for the edge to take it back.

Roulette / $5 on red, every spin
Balance
$100.00
Spins
0
P/L
+$0.00

THE WHEEL HAS NO MEMORY.
THE MATH DOES.

Still not convinced?

Simulate 1,000 players. Each starts with $100, bets $5 on red for 1,000 spins.

STOP.

Every game on this page pays out less than it takes in, not on bad nights but by design. The house edge is a mathematical property of the rules, not a streak that can be broken.

The average American household loses about $1,600 per year to gambling. Over 40 years that adds up to $64,000, which at average market returns would compound to roughly $320,000 by retirement.

NOBODY IS THE EXCEPTION.

None of the numbers on this page change based on how smart you are, how disciplined you are, or how much you study the game. They apply to everyone at the table. If someone you know gambles, they might not know that yet.

THE HOUSE ALWAYS WINS
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