Casino Table Games Rules and Odds

The table games you will find across Asia

Walk into a casino anywhere in Asia, from Macau to Singapore to South Korea, and you will see the same core set of table games. Baccarat is by far the biggest. In Macao's VIP rooms, baccarat is typically the only game offered, and it is the preferred game among Chinese players¹. It is especially popular with high-rollers across the region⁷.

Blackjack, roulette and the two great dice games, sic bo and craps, fill out the floor. Sic bo, an ancient Chinese game played with three dice, goes by different names in different places: tai-sai in Macau and Hong Kong, and you will find six tai-sai tables alongside 160 other table games at Kangwon Land in South Korea⁸. Craps is more of an American import but appears in major resorts and in live dealer casinos online.

The games divide neatly into two kinds. Baccarat, roulette, sic bo and craps are pure chance: no skill improves your odds³. Blackjack is the exception, a decision game where how you play your cards changes what the house edge actually costs you. If you want to dig into that distinction, see does skill matter in casino games.

This page walks through each game in turn: the rules, the payouts, and the house edge, which is simply the share of each bet the casino keeps over the long run. For how that edge is built into every payout, see true odds vs payout odds.

Baccarat: rules, payouts and why the banker bet costs least

Baccarat, also known as punto banco, is a simple guessing game. Two hands are dealt, the Player and the Banker, and you bet on which one will end up closer to 9 points, the highest possible total⁹. No matter how many people are at the table, only those two hands are dealt⁹. Tables seat seven to 14 players depending on the version⁹.

Card values are simple. Aces count as 1, cards 2 through 9 count at face value, and 10, jack, queen and king count as 0³. If a hand's total exceeds 9, the first digit is dropped: a total of 12 becomes 2, and 25 becomes 5¹⁰. Only the rightmost digit matters³.

Each round starts with four cards dealt face up, two for the Player box and two for the Banker box⁹. If either hand totals 8 or 9 on the first two cards, that is a natural, no more cards are dealt, and all bets are settled at once³. Otherwise the drawing rules take over, and they are fixed, not chosen by anyone:

• The Player hand draws a third card if its first two cards total 0 to 5, and stands on 6 or 7³.
• The Banker draws if its total is 0 to 5, and stands on 6 or 7 when the Player hand stood³.

You have three bet boxes in front of your seat: Player, Banker and Tie⁹. All bets must be placed before the cards are dealt¹⁰. The payouts:

• Player wins: paid 1 to 1³.
• Banker wins: paid 1 to 1, minus a 5% commission. A 20 unit bet on the banker hand wins 20 minus that commission⁹.
• Tie: paid 8 to 1³.

That 5% commission is the whole reason the banker bet is the cheapest bet in the game. The banker hand actually wins slightly more often than the player hand, so without the commission the casino would lose money on it. The commission claws most of that back, but not all, which is why the banker bet still costs less. For the full breakdown, see baccarat odds and house edge.

There are no skills that improve your odds in baccarat³. Even card counting, which works in blackjack, barely helps here: the best it can do is tell you to bet Player on rare running counts of -4 or less and Banker otherwise¹¹.

What each baccarat bet costs you

The house edge is the clearest way to compare the three bets. These are the standard figures for the common multi-deck game:

The banker bet's edge of about 1.06% is one of the lowest in the casino¹. The number of decks shifts these figures slightly: in a single-deck game the banker bet costs about 1.01%, the player bet 1.29% and the tie 15.75%¹². Eight-deck, six-deck and one-deck games each have their own return tables⁷.

The tie bet is the one to understand clearly. At 14.36%, it costs more than ten times the banker bet³. The 8 to 1 payout looks tempting, but ties simply do not happen often enough to justify it. We cover this in detail in the tie bet in baccarat.

Blackjack rules: card values, dealer draws and player options

Blackjack, also known as 21, is a game against the dealer, not against the other players. You win by holding a higher total than the dealer without going over 21, or by the dealer busting⁶. Tables have six or more seats¹³.

Card values: numbered cards count at face value, and the ace is worth either 1 or 11, your choice depending on the hand¹⁴. An ace plus a ten-value card on the deal is a natural blackjack, and it beats everything.

The deal: each player gets two cards face up, and the dealer gets one card face up and one face down⁶. If the dealer's up card is a ten or an ace, she checks the face-down card for blackjack before players act; if she has it, the round is over and everyone loses, except a player who also has blackjack, who keeps their original bet¹⁴.

Then it is your turn, and this is where blackjack differs from every other game on this page. Your options:

• Hit: take another card.
• Stand: keep your total.
• Double down: double your bet and take exactly one more card.
• Split: with two cards of the same value, separate them into two hands. You must place a second bet equal to the original, and each hand is then played in turn¹⁴.
• Surrender (where offered): give up half your bet and end the hand.

The dealer has no choices. She follows fixed rules, typically standing on 17 and drawing on 16 or lower¹⁵. In live dealer versions the software signals the dealer to draw until the hand reaches a hard or soft 17 through 21¹⁶. If your total matches the dealer's, the hand is a push and your bet is returned¹⁴. In Macau, the official rules also allow up to three players to bet on one spot, with the seated player making the decisions¹³.

Because your decisions matter, there is a mathematically best play for every hand. That chart is blackjack basic strategy, and the rule details that change the math, like how many decks are in the shoe and whether the dealer hits soft 17, are covered in blackjack rule variations.

Blackjack odds: how your starting hand changes the house edge

With good play, blackjack is among the cheapest games in the casino. Standard blackjack carries a house edge of roughly 0.4%¹⁷, and the game overall varies from about 1% with basic strategy, with card counting able to lower it a further 1 to 2%¹⁸. A four-deck game played with correct strategy comes in at 0.46%¹⁹.

What surprises people is how much the edge swings with the cards you are actually holding. Your starting hand changes your chances dramatically¹⁵:

The pattern is clear: weak hands are expensive, strong hands are cheap. This is why basic strategy exists. It tells you the least costly action for every combination of your hand and the dealer's up card. Even the composition of your hand matters at the margins: in single-deck blackjack you normally stand on 12 against a dealer's 4, but if your 12 is made of a 10 and a 2, the odds favor hitting instead²⁰.

If you want to compare the two big decision-free and decision-heavy games side by side, see baccarat vs blackjack.

Roulette rules and payouts: inside bets, outside bets and the zero

Roulette is a spinning wheel and a betting layout. The table has two main areas: an inside area for betting on numbers, and an outside area for betting on outcomes like odd or even and red or black²¹.

Inside bets are wagers on specific numbers or small groups of numbers. They have lower odds but much higher payouts, as high as 35 to 1 for a straight-up bet on a single number²². The casino's payout on a single number is 35 to 1²³.

Outside bets cover large groups. You can bet high or low, odd or even, red or black, or the first, second or third dozen²². These pay 1 to 1 for the even-money bets and 2 to 1 for dozens and columns¹⁶. The trade-off is the reverse of the inside: better odds, smaller payouts²².

One rule catches new players. You must place the full table minimum on either the inside or the outside, and you cannot split it between the two. On outside bets, the whole minimum must go on one individual wager; on the inside, you can spread it across different numbers²¹.

The zero is where the house gets its edge. Every payout is calculated as if the zero slots did not exist, so the green slots are what the casino keeps. For the payout on every single bet type, see roulette odds.

European or American roulette: which wheel you are playing on

Before you sit down, check which wheel the table is using, because it changes the price of every bet on the layout.

• European roulette: a 37-number wheel with a single zero²⁴. The house edge is 2.7%, or 1 in 37, on all bets⁵. Any single number has a 1 in 37 chance⁵.
• American roulette: a wheel with 38 slots in all, the numbers 1 through 36 plus the two green slots, 0 and 00²¹. The house edge is 5.26%⁵.

The extra zero nearly doubles the cost of playing. European roulette is still offered in many casinos as an alternative to the American version²¹, and some live dealer studios run a standard single zero European layout¹⁶. There are also worse wheels to watch for: quadruple-zero roulette carries a 10% house edge on every bet²⁴. The full comparison, including where each version is common, is in European vs American roulette, and the newer wheel formats are covered in roulette variants.

Sic Bo: three dice, the betting layout and what each bet pays

Sic Bo, originally pronounced SEE-BO, is an ancient Chinese dice game²⁵. It is played with three dice, and players bet on the outcome of each roll²⁵. It is a game of pure chance: no strategy or skill is involved, and it moves quickly²⁵. Each table has two dealers who exchange chips, monitor the bets and keep the game moving²⁵. In Macau the game is known as cussec, played with three balanced dice shaken under an opaque cup²⁶.

There are six main categories of bets²⁵:

• Single number bets: pick one number. In Macau's rules, the single dice bet pays 1 to 1 if your number appears on one die, 2 to 1 if it appears on two, and 3 to 1 if all three dice show it²⁷.
• Two number combinations: pick two numbers to appear together.
• Three dice total bets: bet on the sum of all three dice. The payouts fall as the total gets more likely: 60 to 1 for a total of 4 or 17, 30 to 1 for 5 or 16, 18 to 1 for 6 or 15, 12 to 1 for 7 or 14, 8 to 1 for 8 or 13, 7 to 1 for 9 or 12, and 6 to 1 for 10 or 11²⁷.
• Triple bets: all three dice showing the same number. Any triple pays 30 to 1²⁷.
• Pair bets: two of your chosen number.
• Big and small bets: small is a total of 4 to 10, big is 11 to 17²⁵. These pay even money, but with one catch: if all three dice show the same number, both big and small bets lose²⁶.

The rule of thumb for reading the layout: the higher the payout odds, the less likely the outcome²⁵. For the full house edge on every bet area, see sic bo odds, and for how the game compares to craps, see sic bo vs craps.

Craps: dice combinations and why some bets have no house edge at all

Craps is a dice game played on a specially designed table where players bet on the outcome of the next roll, and it is considered the fastest game in the casino²⁸. Like sic bo, it is pure chance with no skill or strategy²⁸.

Two dice give 6 times 6, so every roll has 36 possible combinations⁴. That is the whole mathematical basis of the game. For example, a 5 can be rolled 4 ways out of 36, a 1 in 9 chance, and the chance of rolling a 5 before a 7 is 40%⁴. The odds for the main bets are usually written right on the table²⁹.

There are more than 10 types of wagers, and they vary enormously in cost²⁸. The house edge across the game runs from 0% up to 16.67% depending on where you bet⁴. Two rules of thumb help you navigate:

• The bets with the lowest house edge are the pass line bets, come bets, place bets and odds bets²⁸.
• Bets on the outside of the table have better odds than those in the middle²⁸.

The odds bet is the remarkable one. It pays out at true odds, which means there is no house edge at all². It is an additional wager you can make after a point is established, and it is one of the only bets in the casino where the payout exactly matches the risk. The catch is that you generally need to have a line bet working first. For the full rules of the come-out roll and the point, see craps rules, and for the payout on every wager, see craps odds.

House edge compared: which games give you the most back

House edge is the single most useful number in gambling. It is the average share of each bet the casino keeps over time. Here is how the main games and bet types stack up, using the standard figures with optimal play:

A few things stand out. The dice games and blackjack, played well, cost a fraction of what slots cost. Slot machines are less favorable than table games such as blackjack and roulette in terms of return to player³¹. Poker sits in the middle: less favorable than blackjack, more favorable than roulette³². And the baccarat tie bet, at 14.36%, is among the priciest wagers on this list, though the lottery, with a 50% average house edge, costs far more³⁰.

Remember what these numbers mean. A 1% house edge does not mean you lose 1% of your money on a visit; it means the casino keeps about 1% of everything wagered over the long run. On any given night, variance swamps the edge. For why betting systems cannot beat that math, see casino betting systems.

Side bets and multipliers: pair bets, Lucky 6, Lightning Roulette and Super Sic Bo

Most tables offer extra wagers alongside the main game. They are optional, they pay big, and they cost more than the bets they sit next to.

In baccarat, the side bet menu is long: Dragon Bonus, 4-5-6, Lucky Bonus, 3-Card Six, Dragon 7, Panda 8, Royal Match, Bellagio Match and Matching Dragon⁷. Pair bets, wagering that the first two cards of a hand make a pair, are among the most common. How favorable a pair bet is depends on the number of decks in the shoe, and return tables are published separately for eight-deck, six-deck and single-deck games¹². The full list with payouts is in baccarat side bets.

Blackjack tables carry their own side bets, like pair wagers attached to the main game. For the blackjack versions, see blackjack side bets.

Online and live dealer studios have taken the side bet idea further and built whole games around multipliers. Lightning Roulette and Super Sic Bo add random multipliers to selected numbers before each round, boosting payouts well above the standard table in exchange for a higher base edge. These games, along with speed and squeeze versions of baccarat, are covered in live dealer table game variants, and the money-wheel multiplier games in live casino game shows. The general differences between playing online and in person are in live dealer vs casino floor.

Table etiquette and limits: OTPC chips, betting windows and minimums

A few practical things to know before your first table.

Chips. Wagers at a casino table are made with casino chips, and in some jurisdictions that is the formal rule: in Singapore, a wager on any approved casino gambling conducted at a table must be made with casino chips and, if applicable, one or more match play coupons³³. You buy chips at the table with cash and color them back up when you leave. At the sic bo table, casino chips are the only thing that really belongs on the table³⁴.

Minimums. The lowest minimum tables usually run bets of about $5 to $15, and new players are often pointed there⁶. Minimums vary by game, table and casino. Every craps table layout is exactly the same, but betting limits and dollar amounts vary between tables and casinos²⁸. In poker rooms, a table with a $1/$2 bet limit might have a buy-in range of $50 minimum and $300 maximum³⁵.

Betting windows. All bets must be placed before the action starts. In baccarat, all bets must be placed before the cards are dealt, with no betting after the first two cards¹⁰. In sic bo, the window closes when the dealer covers the dice. If you miss the window, wait for the next round.

Pace. Sic bo is fast-paced and requires some quick thinking³⁴. Craps is the fastest game in the casino²⁸. Baccarat rounds are over in seconds once the cards are out. Do not feel rushed; it is fine to watch a few rounds before you sit down.

Rule variations. Some rules and pay tables vary slightly by casino, especially in novelty and side bet games¹¹. If a payout looks different from what you expect, ask the dealer before you bet, not after.

For the fuller version of this, including buying in, hand signals and whether you may touch the cards, see casino table etiquette, and for what happens when something goes wrong, see dealer errors and misdeals.