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The Smartest and Worst Bets in the Casino

🕑 8 min read

Last updated: June 2026

Last verified 2 days ago (9 June 2026)

Not all bets are created equal, friend, not even close. Some carry a house edge of half a percent, and some quietly take a quarter of every dollar you wager. The casino is happy to let you pick the bad ones. So here is the honest insider’s guide to the smartest bets on the floor, blackjack, baccarat banker, the craps odds bet, and the ones to run from, keno, the big wheel, and the dreaded tie. Learn the difference and you’ll lose slower, last longer, and play a far smarter game.

Here’s a truth the floor would rather you didn’t dwell on: the difference between the best bet and the worst bet in the building is enormous. We’re talking about the difference between giving the house half a penny on the dollar and handing it twenty-five cents. Same room, same night, same money, wildly different speed of losing. Knowing which is which is the cheapest, easiest edge a casual player can ever give themselves. Let’s start with the good news.

The smartest bets in the casino

These are the games and bets where the house barely beats you, the ones a smart player gravitates to:

Blackjack with basic strategy. Play the proven correct move on every hand and the house edge drops to around 0.5%, the best odds of any table game. No counting required, just the strategy chart. It’s the smartest seat in the house.
Baccarat, the Banker bet. Always bet Banker, never Tie. The Banker wager carries roughly a 1.06% edge, one of the lowest anywhere, and it requires no skill at all beyond ignoring the other two boxes.
Craps, the Pass Line. The basic Pass or Don’t Pass bet runs about a 1.4% edge, very fair, and it’s the foundation of the most exciting table in the casino.
Video poker, full-pay. On a full-pay Jacks or Better machine, perfect play gets you to around 99.5% return. Check the paytable carefully, because a single reduced payout turns a great machine into an ordinary one.

Notice the theme: the smartest bets are the simple, classic ones, and most reward a touch of knowledge. For the full ranking of every game, our casino games by house edge guide lays them all out side by side.

The one bet with no house edge at all

This is my favourite secret on the whole floor, and almost nobody uses it. At the craps table, once you’ve made a Pass Line bet and a point is set, you’re allowed to make an additional bet called taking the odds. And the odds bet is the only wager in the entire casino with a true house edge of zero. It pays out at the real mathematical odds, with no cut for the house at all.

The casino allows it because you can only place it as a backup to your Pass Line bet, which does carry an edge. But by betting the minimum on the Pass Line and loading up on the odds behind it, you drag your overall edge down toward nothing. It’s the closest thing to a fair fight the house will ever offer you. Most players have never even heard of it, because the casino certainly isn’t going to advertise the one bet it makes no money on.

🎲 Chip’s Vegas

I dealt every game in the house over the years, and I’ll let you in on what we quietly thought of the players. The fella grinding basic-strategy blackjack or backing his Pass Line with full odds, we respected him, even if the bosses didn’t love him, because he knew the score. But the keno tickets and the big-wheel spinners, bless them, the house adored those folks. I watched a lovely couple play keno every night of a week-long trip, the worst odds in the building, while a perfectly good blackjack table sat ten feet away. They had a grand time, and they had no idea they were on the fastest road to broke in the whole casino. Nobody ever told them. That’s why I’m telling you.

The worst bets, the sucker traps

Now the ones to avoid like a bad smell. These carry house edges so steep they’ll empty your wallet at frightening speed:

Keno. The undisputed worst bet in the casino, with a house edge often between 25% and 30%. It’s a lottery dressed up as a game. Fun for a dollar, financial poison for anything more.
The Big Six / Money Wheel. That giant spinning wheel near the entrance looks like harmless fun and carries an edge up to a brutal 24%. It’s there to catch you on the way in.
American roulette. The double-zero American wheel has a 5.26% edge, nearly double the 2.7% of the single-zero European wheel. Always choose European or French roulette if you have the option. Same game, half the cost.
The baccarat Tie bet. It dangles a tempting 8-to-1 payout, but the house edge is a savage 14% or so. The Tie is the single biggest trap on an otherwise excellent game.
Craps proposition bets. All those tempting one-roll bets in the center of the craps layout, the hardways, “any seven”, and the rest, carry edges from 9% up to a horrible 16%. Stick to the Pass Line and the odds.

The everyday trap: insurance

One sucker bet deserves its own warning, because you’ll be offered it constantly. At the blackjack table, when the dealer shows an ace, they’ll ask if you want insurance, a side bet that the dealer has blackjack. It sounds prudent, protective even. It is neither.

Insurance is just a bad side bet with a house edge of around 7%, dressed up in comforting language to make you feel safe. Over time it costs you money, plain and simple. Unless you’re a card counter who knows the deck is rich in tens, the correct play is always the same: decline insurance, every single time. The name is the trick. It isn’t protecting you, it’s selling you another losing wager when you’re feeling nervous.

The simple takeaway

You don’t need to memorise every number to play a far smarter game. Just carry one simple rule onto the floor: stick to the classic table games and skip the flashy stuff. Blackjack, baccarat banker, and the craps line with odds are your friends. Keno, the big wheel, the tie, the side bets, and insurance are the house’s friends. The good bets are rarely the loud ones, and the worst bets are almost always the ones with the biggest, most tempting payouts shouted in the brightest lights.

None of this beats the house, mind. Every one of these bets still loses over time, the good ones just lose slowly enough to give you a real evening’s entertainment for your money. Pair smart bet selection with our bankroll management guide and you’ll get more play, more fun, and more nights out of the same budget. And if it ever stops being fun, our responsible gambling hub has free, confidential help.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best bet in a casino?

For table games, blackjack played with basic strategy gives the lowest house edge, around 0.5%. The craps odds bet is technically even better, the only wager in the casino with a zero house edge, though it must back a Pass Line bet. Baccarat’s Banker bet, at about 1.06%, is another excellent, skill-free choice.

What is the worst bet in a casino?

Keno is widely considered the worst, with a house edge often between 25% and 30%. The Big Six money wheel is nearly as bad at up to 24%, and the baccarat Tie bet runs around 14%. As a rule, the flashiest games with the biggest advertised payouts carry the steepest edges.

Should you ever take insurance in blackjack?

No, not unless you’re a card counter tracking a ten-rich deck. Insurance is a side bet with a roughly 7% house edge dressed up as protection. For a normal player it loses money over time, so the correct move is to always decline it. The reassuring name is exactly the trap.

Is European roulette better than American?

Yes, clearly. European roulette has a single zero and a 2.7% house edge, while American roulette adds a double zero, nearly doubling the edge to 5.26%. It’s the same game otherwise, so always choose European or French roulette when you can. The extra pocket on the American wheel simply costs you more.

Related ChipReign pages

Casino games by house edge: every game ranked
Bankroll management: make your money last
Gambling myths debunked: stop believing the lies
How casinos trick you: why the bad bets shout loudest
More from the ChipReign blog
Responsible gambling hub: free, confidential help

ChipReign reviews casinos and the games they carry with our own hands-on testing. We don’t accept payment to change a ranking. The order you read is the order they earned.

ChipReign publishes content for adults aged 18+ (21+ in certain US jurisdictions). If you or someone you know is struggling with gambling, free and confidential help is available: National Problem Gambling Helpline (US) 1-800-MY-RESET; GamCare (UK) 0808 8020 133; Gambling Help Online (Australia) 1800 858 858.