Blackjack vs roulette

Blackjack vs roulette: the quick verdict

If your only question is which game gives the house a smaller slice, blackjack wins clearly, but only when you play each hand the mathematically correct way and pick a table with fair rules. Roulette is the opposite kind of game: no decision you make alters the odds, so a complete beginner faces exactly the same 2.70% edge on a single-zero wheel as someone who has played for thirty years.

That makes the comparison less about which is better and more about what you want from a session. Blackjack rewards attention and costs less per pound staked. Roulette is relaxed, simple to follow and offers a wide spread of payouts, from even money up to 35 to 1, at a higher and completely fixed price.

House edge: blackjack vs roulette odds side by side

Wizard of Odds' house edge table for casino games (opens in a new tab) gives blackjack 0.28% under liberal Las Vegas rules (dealer stands on soft 17, double on any two cards, double after splitting, re-split aces and late surrender) and 0.43% under Atlantic City rules. Its six-deck European game, with no hole card, doubling on 9 to 11 only and the dealer standing on soft 17, comes out at 0.62%. Those numbers all assume perfect basic strategy.

Roulette is easier to summarise. On a single-zero wheel, according to Wizard of Odds' roulette basics (opens in a new tab), every bet loses 1/37 of its stake on average, which is 2.70%. Add a second zero and the figure rises to 2/38, or 5.26%, with the five-number top line on an American table even worse at 7.89%. French tables with the La Partage rule cut the cost of even-money bets alone to about 1.35%. The full breakdown sits on our roulette house edge page, and the blackjack equivalent on blackjack house edge.

Return to player is simply 100% minus the house edge. Both are long-run averages across millions of rounds, not a forecast for any one session.

What each game costs per hour in pounds

Percentages feel abstract, so turn them into money. Expected loss is stake multiplied by house edge, and the hourly figure is that number multiplied by how many rounds you play. The table below uses £10 a round and 60 rounds an hour as an illustration. Live tables, RNG games and speed versions all run at different paces, so plug in your own numbers on the cost per hour page if you play faster or slower.

Two caveats keep this honest. In blackjack you sometimes put more money on the table by doubling or splitting, so your total amount wagered per hour is a little higher than your base bet suggests. And the 6:5 line is an approximation: Wizard of Odds measures the 1.39% cost of a 6:5 payout against its own baseline game, so adding it to a different table's figure gives a rough guide rather than an exact result.

Why blackjack has the lower house edge

The house's advantage in blackjack comes from one rule: you act first, so if you bust you lose even when the dealer busts afterwards. Several rules hand some of that back to you. A natural pays 3 to 2, you can double down for one card, you can split pairs, and you can stand on any total while the dealer must draw to 17. Used correctly, those options shrink the house's advantage to a fraction of a per cent.

That is also the catch. The low figures assume you make the strategy-chart play every time. Guessing, copying the dealer's rules or taking insurance all push the real cost up, and the rules on the table matter as much as your play. Wizard of Odds' blackjack rule variations (opens in a new tab) table puts the dealer hitting soft 17 at 0.22% extra, no doubling after a split at 0.14% and the European no-hole-card procedure at 0.11%.

Our guides to 3:2 against 6:5 and the dealer soft 17 rule show how to spot these rules in a game's help screen before you sit down.

Roulette odds: why the edge never moves

Every roulette payout is set as if the wheel had 36 numbers. A straight-up bet pays 35 to 1, but on a European wheel it wins 1 time in 37. Over 37 spins of £1 you would, on average, win once (collecting £35 plus your stake back) and lose £1 on the other 36 spins: a net loss of £1 across £37 staked, which is the 2.70%.

The same arithmetic applies to every standard bet. Red or black wins 18 times in 37 and pays even money; a dozen wins 12 times in 37 and pays 2 to 1. Different payouts, different swings, identical long-run price. That is why picking a 'safer' bet in roulette changes how bumpy the ride is, not how much it costs on average.

Variance: how each game feels over a session

House edge tells you the average cost; volatility tells you how far a single session can stray from it. Blackjack results cluster around small wins and losses of one bet, with the occasional 3 to 2 natural or a doubled hand adding a bit of spice. Most hands settle at roughly your stake, give or take.

Roulette lets you choose your own volatility. Even-money bets behave a lot like blackjack, winning a little under half the time. Single numbers sit at the far end: long losing runs broken by a 35 to 1 hit. Neither choice changes the 2.70%, but a £50 budget spread across single numbers can vanish quickly or jump ahead, while the same £50 on red tends to drift down slowly.

• Prefer steady, slow-moving sessions: blackjack, or even-money roulette bets.
• Enjoy the chance of a larger single payout: inside roulette bets, accepting longer losing runs.
• Want the cheapest hour for a given stake: blackjack at a 3:2 table, played by the chart.

Blackjack vs roulette strategy: what you can and can't control

Basic strategy is not a way to win. It is the set of plays that loses the least on average for a given rule set, and it still leaves the house with an edge. Even so, it is the one place in either game where your decisions genuinely change the maths. In roulette there is no equivalent: the only 'strategic' choices are picking a single-zero wheel and, where available, a La Partage table for even-money bets.

Card counting belongs in the history books for online play. RNG blackjack reshuffles before every round, and live tables generally use shuffling methods that defeat it, as our card counting page explains. In roulette, staking plans such as the Martingale only reshuffle when you win and lose; Wizard of Odds' simulations in its guide to betting systems (opens in a new tab) found losses matched the house edge whatever system was used. See roulette betting systems and the gambler's fallacy for why past spins tell you nothing.

Run through this list before you pick a table.

1. Decide your budget for the session and the most you will stake per round.
2. If you want low cost and don't mind learning a chart, look for a blackjack table that pays 3 to 2 and check its help screen for the soft 17 and doubling rules.
3. If you prefer a hands-off game, choose single-zero roulette and avoid double-zero wheels.
4. For even-money roulette bets, look for a French table with La Partage.
5. Work out your expected hourly cost (stake x rounds x edge) and stop when your budget or time is up.

Live and online play: blackjack and roulette in the UK

Both games come in two forms online. RNG versions use a certified random number generator; under the Gambling Commission's remote technical standards, results must be acceptably random and a simulated wheel or deck must have the same probabilities as the real thing. Live versions stream a real dealer, shoe or wheel from a studio, as in live blackjack and live roulette.

The maths does not change between the two: a live single-zero wheel is still 2.70%. What changes is pace. Evolution's live roulette range (opens in a new tab) includes Speed Roulette, which it says runs a round every 25 seconds, about half the length of a standard live round, which roughly doubles the number of bets you can place in an hour and therefore your expected hourly cost at the same stake.

UK rules apply equally to both games. Since 17 January 2025, autoplay is banned for all online casino games, non-slot games must allow at least 5 seconds per game cycle, and you cannot play several games at once; the details are on our game speed rules page. The £5 and £2 online stake limits apply to slots only, not to blackjack or roulette tables.

Side bets, multipliers and other price changes

Many modern tables add extras that move the edge. In blackjack, side bets such as Perfect Pairs and 21+3 carry much higher edges than the main hand, so a cheap game can become an expensive one if you add them every round. In roulette, multiplier games change the payouts: Evolution's Lightning Roulette pays 29 to 1 on an unboosted straight-up win instead of 35 to 1, funding its random multipliers.

The lesson is the same for both games. The headline figures in this comparison apply to the standard bets only. Once you add side bets or play a branded variant, check that game's own rules and published return before comparing it with anything else.

Who should play blackjack and who should play roulette

If you're still undecided, our which casino game has the best odds answer ranks the main table games, and the compare hub lines up other matchups such as blackjack against baccarat.

Where to play blackjack and roulette with our partners

Our partner offers are built around slots, so they are not a reason to choose a blackjack or roulette table. Table and live games are often excluded from bonus wagering or count for less towards it; read the game weighting guide and each casino's terms before you opt in. Coral's app store listing names blackjack, roulette and live casino; for the others, check the casino's game lobby.

18+ and terms apply to every offer. Casumo gives new customers who opt in a 50% bonus up to £100 on a first deposit of at least £20; the bonus must be wagered 10x within 7 days, with a £5 maximum bet while it is active, and game, play and payment restrictions apply. 10bet offers new UK customers a 100% match up to £25 when they choose the casino bonus at sign-up and deposit within 7 days, wagered 10x on slots within 3 days, with bonus winnings capped at £1,000 and Skrill and Neteller deposits excluded. Coral gives new players who deposit and bet £10 on slots 100 free spins at 10p each, to be accepted within 48 hours and used within 7 days, with no wagering on the winnings; some payment methods, including PayPal and Skrill, don't qualify.

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.