Blackjack versus Roulette

  • Friday, Feb 25, 2022

In Blackjack, the player wins if his hand total is 21 or lower. On the other hand, if the total exceeds 21, the player goes bust. He would still go bust even if the dealer's hand is over 21. In a fair game, this should result in a tie, but it doesn't. Please keep reading.

What are the odds in Blackjack?

The probability of getting a Blackjack, if you used the perfect strategy, is 42%. In a fair game, it would be 50%. So why is this disparity? The reason lies in the game's house edge which is 0.5%. Why is this house edge low when the chances of getting a 21 are also low?

  1. Blackjack is a table game, and can be played live as well.

The reason is that once a while you do get a Blackjack and when that happens you get paid at 3:2 odds. This happens just 5% of the time, but it is enough to reduce the casino's house edge significantly. Now let's study Roulette and its house edge. Please continue reading this article.

What are the odds in Roulette?

Let's take American Roulette which has a 0 and 00. If you laid an even money bet, your chances of winning would be 47.37%. It won't be 50% because two numbers in the wheel are 00 and 0, and they are neither Black/ Red or High/Low. Further, the house edge in this case is 5.26%.

This proves that Blackjack is more profitable than American Roulette. House edge is the mathematical advantage enjoyed by a casino for that game. Different games have different house edges. Now let's study the Blackjack versus Roulette comparison in greater detail. Please stick to this gambling guide for more information. We now talk about hourly losses in each game.

What are the hourly losses in Blackjack and Roulette?

You can calculate how profitable your game is by multiplying the number of bets an average bettor makes with the average bet size. Now multiply this product with the hoise edge of that particular game. This would give you the average hourly loss for that game ( Blackjack and Roulette, in this case).

In Roulette, the player makes 100 bets per hour. Multiply with $5 (average bet size), and the average hourly action is $500. Now multiply this number with the house edge of 5.26%, and the hourly loss for Roulette is more than $13. Now let's look at the Blackjack figures. Go over to the next paragraph.

Here, the average hourly action is $250 because an average bets 50 times in an hour with a bet size of 5 USD. Now multiply 250 USD with the house edge of 0.5%. The average hourly loss for Blackjack comes to $2.5.

Now you can yourself compare which game is better in terms of profit or loss. Obviously, Blackjack is more profitable. But what happens when we consider European and "en prison" Roulette. In the former case, the average hourly loss is $6.75. This loss goes down significantly to $3.38 in the "en prison" version. Clearly, Blackjack is better.

  • Blackjack and Roulette are both table games.

This doesn't mean you should never play Roulette. Various players have different reasons for playing their favourite game. These could be speed, thrill, etc. However, you stand to gain more by playing Blackjack. If you are a novice, you can learn this table game quickly by watching videos and reading online gambling guides.

What is house edge?

Every game has a house edge, and this metric conveys the casino's mathematical advantage in the game over the player. Suppose a bet pays at 3 to 1 odds. How do you calculate the house edge? Suppose you bet $100 four times. You'll lose 3 bets of USD 100 each, but you win once with a profit of $200.

Your net loss would be $300- $200= $100. Since there are 4 trials, your average loss would be $25. Now you divide $100 by 4, and the house edge would be 25%. In this hypothetical game, the casinos' advantage would be 25%. This you would lose 25 cents for every one dollar you staked.