The worst bets in the casino

The worst bets in the casino, ranked by house edge

The list below takes the most expensive bets found across the main games, using the published standard maths from the Wizard of Odds. The cost column is the average amount the casino keeps from a £10 stake, worked out as stake × house edge.

For comparison, the best bets at the same tables cost between about 3p and 14p per £10, which our guide to the casino games with the best odds sets out. The worst bets in the casino can cost twenty or thirty times as much for every pound staked.

Why the worst bets exist: big payouts, tiny chances

Every bad bet follows the same pattern. The payout looks generous, but it falls short of the true odds by a wide margin. Casino Math, the textbook by Hannum and Cabot, gives the house edge for a bet that pays x to 1 with true odds of y to 1 as (y − x) ÷ (y + 1).

Take craps Any Seven. Two dice have 36 equally likely combinations, and six of them make 7, so the chance is 6 in 36, or 1 in 6. True odds are 5 to 1, but the bet pays 4 to 1. The edge is (5 − 4) ÷ 6 = 16.67%. In plain terms: in six £10 bets you expect one win of £40 and five losses of £50, a £10 loss every six rolls.

Sic bo’s specific triple is starker. Three dice have 216 outcomes and only one is, say, three 4s. True odds are 215 to 1. A Macau pay table pays 150 to 1, so the edge is (215 − 150) ÷ 216 = 30.09%. A pay table offering 180 to 1 still leaves 16.20%.

A huge multiplier on the screen tells you nothing about value. What matters is how close the payout comes to the true odds.

Side bets: the worst bets at blackjack and baccarat tables

Blackjack and baccarat are among the cheapest games in the casino, which is exactly why their side bets stand out. The main game costs well under 1.5%; the optional extras usually cost several times that. Our full guide to blackjack side bets has every pay table.

Insurance deserves a special mention because it sounds protective. It pays 2 to 1 if the dealer has a ten-value card under an ace. From a full eight-deck shoe, 128 of the remaining 415 cards are tens, so you win 128 times and lose 287 times out of 415. That gives (2 × 128 − 287) ÷ 415, an expected loss of 31/415, or about 7.47% of the stake.

The baccarat tie bet wins about 9.5% of hands with eight decks. At 8 to 1 the edge is 14.36%. Where a table pays 9 to 1, it drops to about 4.84%, which shows how much a single point on the payout matters.

Craps proposition bets: the costliest corner of the table

The middle of the craps layout holds the one-roll and hardway bets, and nearly all of them sit in the worst bets in the casino. The Wizard of Odds craps appendix (opens in a new tab) gives these figures per bet resolved:

• Any Seven at 4 to 1: 16.67%, the highest of the standard craps bets.
• 2 or 12 at 30 to 1: 13.89% (5.56% where it pays 33 to 1).
• 3 or 11 at 15 to 1, and Any Craps at 7 to 1: 11.11% each.
• Hard 4 or 10 at 7 to 1: 11.11%; Hard 6 or 8 at 9 to 1: 9.09%.

The clearest lesson comes from Big 6 and Big 8. Big 6 wins if a 6 rolls before a 7. There are five ways to make 6 and six ways to make 7, so it wins 5 times in 11. Paid at even money, the edge is 1/11, or 9.09%. A place bet on 6 wins on exactly the same rolls but pays 7 to 6, which cuts the edge to 1.52%. Same dice, same event, six times the cost.

Sic bo long shots: why the pay table decides everything

Sic bo has both some of the cheapest and some of the dearest bets in the casino. Small, big, odd and even all cost 2.78%. The specific bets on doubles and triples can cost over ten times as much, and their price swings with the pay table. The figures below come from the Wizard of Odds sic bo analysis (opens in a new tab).

Online versions set their own pay tables, so look at the payout shown on the betting area or in the help screen before staking on a triple or double. Our sic bo house edge page lists the total bets too.

Roulette’s worst bets: double zero and the five-number bet

On a single-zero wheel every bet costs the same 2.70%, so there are no especially bad roulette bets, only bad wheels. An American double-zero wheel raises every bet to 5.26%. Its five-number bet on 0, 00, 1, 2 and 3 pays 6 to 1 on 5 of 38 pockets: (5 × 6 − 33) ÷ 38 gives an expected loss of 3/38, or 7.89%, the worst bet on the layout.

Mini roulette with 13 pockets is another one to check. Wizard of Odds gives 7.69% on every bet in one version, and 3.85% to 7.69% in another depending on whether the bet covers zero. Our American roulette page explains where the extra pocket comes from.

Keno, and checking the RTP on slots and game shows

Keno is the single worst main game in the casino. The Wizard of Odds keno page (opens in a new tab) explains that the draw itself is fair, but pay tables are set far below the true odds. Its summary lists keno at a 25% to 29% edge, and one survey of Las Vegas live keno found returns of 65% to 80%. Online RNG keno sets its own RTP, so read the help screen before you pick numbers; our keno odds page shows how to work out a pay table.

Slots publish an RTP in their help screens, and UK rules require operators to give you that information. Most popular titles sit in the mid-90s, but some are lower. Mega Moolah, for example, lists a base game RTP of 88.12%, which excludes the contribution to its progressive jackpot. Game show bets vary widely too, so compare them on our game show RTP page.

What the worst bets in the casino cost over 100 bets

Expected loss is total staked × house edge. The table shows the average loss from 100 bets of £5 each, so £500 staked, for a selection of bad bets against the cheaper main bet at the same table.

Results in any one session will differ from these averages, sometimes by a lot, because long shots are high-volatility bets. Over enough bets, though, the losses settle towards these figures.

How to spot a bad bet in any casino game

You can check almost any simple bet with four steps:

1. Count the outcomes. Find the chance of winning from the number of pockets, dice combinations or cards. Two dice give 36 combinations, three dice 216, a European wheel 37 pockets.
2. Convert to true odds. If a bet wins 1 time in 6, the true odds are 5 to 1 against.
3. Compare with the payout. The further the payout falls below the true odds, the worse the bet.
4. Work out the edge: (true odds − payout) ÷ (true odds + 1). Anything above about 5% is expensive; above 10% is among the worst bets in the casino.

Our probability basics page has more practice examples, and the house edge calculator turns any edge into a cost per hour.

Myths that keep players on the worst bets

• 'Small side bets are cheap fun.' A £1 side bet at 10% costs as much on average as a £10 main bet at 1%.
• 'Insurance protects a good hand.' It is a separate bet on the dealer’s hole card, with an edge of around 7.5% from a full shoe.
• 'The tie is due after a long run without one.' Each hand is a fresh deal, and a missing result does not become more likely.
• 'Big payouts mean the casino is being generous.' A 150 to 1 payout on a 1 in 216 chance is one of the worst deals on any table.

If a bet feels attractive because it could win back earlier losses, that is chasing. Our chasing losses guide explains why it raises spending without improving the odds.

How the partner offers relate to the worst bets

The partner offers here are for UK adults (18+) and terms apply. They are slot-focused, so none of them is designed for side bets or table long shots, and table and live games are often excluded from bonuses or count less towards wagering; check the terms first.

Casumo: new customers who opt in get a 50% bonus up to £100 on a first deposit of at least £20, with 10x wagering on the bonus within 7 days and a £5 maximum bet while it is active. 10bet: new UK customers who pick the casino welcome bonus and deposit within 7 days get a 100% match up to £25, wagered 10x on slots within 3 days, with bonus winnings capped at £1,000; Skrill and Neteller deposits don’t count. Coral: deposit and bet £10 or more on slots between 1 October 2026 and 1 February 2027 to get 100 free spins at 10p on selected games, accepted within 48 hours and valid for 7 days, with no wagering on winnings; some payment methods are excluded.

18+. Every casino game has a built-in house edge, so over time you should expect to lose what you stake. Set a budget before you play and stop when it’s gone: safer gambling tools and support. Free, confidential help: National Gambling Helpline 0808 8020 133.