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Every year someone announces the comeback of the older casino games, and every year the lobby stays mostly slots. The games are worth knowing anyway — not because they are due a revival, but because the range of house edge among them is enormous, and two of them are better bets than almost anything on a modern front page.
Each figure below is published and calculated openly. Nothing here rests on anyone having played anything.
Nine games and what they cost
| Game | What it is | House edge |
|---|---|---|
| Craps (pass line with odds) | Dice game with a large bet menu; the pass line backed by odds is the cheapest | about 1.4% on the line, falling toward 0.6% with odds |
| Pai Gow Poker | Seven cards split into two hands against the banker; very slow, many pushes | about 1.5% when the house banks |
| Baccarat (banker) | Two-hand comparison with fixed drawing rules and no decisions | about 1.06% |
| Sic Bo | Three dice; a wide board with very different prices per square | about 2.8% on the best bets, above 30% on the worst |
| Red Dog | Bet on whether a third card falls between two others | about 3.2% with a single deck |
| Casino War | Single-card comparison, essentially no decisions | about 2.9% going to war on ties |
| Caribbean Stud | Five-card poker against the dealer with an ante and a raise | about 5.2% |
| Big Six / Money Wheel | A spun wheel with segment payouts | about 11% to 24% depending on the segment |
| Keno | Draw-based number game with large top prizes | about 20% to 30% depending on paytable |
The spread is the point. Craps and baccarat sit near one per cent; keno and the money wheel are several times more expensive than a typical slot. Calling all of these “forgotten classics” flattens a difference that costs real money. Figures collected by Wizard of Odds show the calculations rather than asserting the results.
The two that genuinely deserve attention
Craps has the lowest cost per bet available in a casino once the odds bet is used, because that portion is paid at true odds with no house margin at all. The catch is that the board also carries some of the worst bets in the building, so the edge depends entirely on which squares you use.
Pai Gow Poker is worth knowing for a different reason: pace. Hands are slow and pushes are frequent, so the cost per hour is far lower than the edge alone suggests. It is one of the few games where a modest bankroll can last an evening without any strategy beyond following the house way.
The two to be clear-eyed about
Keno and the money wheel are among the most expensive games offered anywhere. That is not a hidden fact — the paytables are published and the arithmetic is straightforward. They are played for the shape of the prize rather than the odds, which is a legitimate reason as long as it is the actual reason.
Sic Bo deserves a specific warning because it is not one bet. The small and big bets sit under three per cent; specific triples on the same board run above thirty. Two squares an inch apart can differ by a factor of ten in cost.
Why they left the lobby
Not because they were beaten mathematically. Slots resolve in seconds, need no dealer, occupy less space and produce more revenue per hour. Older table games lost placement to a pace argument, and pace is also the reason they are easier on a bankroll — the same property, read from the two different sides.
If you are choosing between games, the comparison worth running is the one in what game rankings actually measure, and the side bets attached to these tables are priced in the side bet house edge list.
Frequently asked questions
Which older game has the lowest house edge?
Craps on the pass line with odds, and baccarat’s banker bet at about 1.06%. Pai Gow Poker is low and unusually slow, which lowers cost per hour further.
Is Keno a bad bet?
By house edge yes — commonly 20% to 30%, among the most expensive games offered.
What is Casino War?
A single-card comparison game with almost no decisions and a house edge around 2.9% when going to war on ties.
Why did these games disappear?
Pace and revenue per hour, not mathematics. Slots resolve faster and need less space.
Where do I check these figures?
Public references publish the calculations, and the table rules screen states which paytable is in use.
