What Are the Best Odds in Gambling?
The best odds in gambling belong to blackjack played with basic strategy, around a 0.5% house edge, followed by baccarat's banker bet (1.06%) and the craps pass line (1.41%). Standard sports bets cost about 4.5%, but line shopping can cut that sharply, and sports is the only mainstream format where a skilled player can reach positive expected value. Lotteries are the worst by far.
The House Edge League Table
House edge is the operator's average take per dollar wagered, and it varies enormously. Blackjack with strict basic strategy runs about 0.5%, meaning C$100 of bets costs you 50 cents on average. Baccarat's banker bet is 1.06%, the craps pass line 1.41%, single-zero roulette 2.7% and the double-zero American wheel 5.26%. Online slots typically hold 4% to 8%, and lottery products keep half or more of ticket sales.
Two warnings on the good games. Blackjack's 0.5% assumes you play every hand correctly and the table has decent rules; sloppy play or 6:5 blackjack payouts push the edge past 2%. And side bets everywhere are traps: perfect pairs, roulette baskets and craps proposition bets carry edges of 5% to 16% bolted onto otherwise reasonable games.
Edge is only half the cost equation; speed is the other. A 0.5% edge at 100 blackjack hands per hour with C$10 bets costs about C$5 an hour, while a 1.41% craps game with fewer decisions can cost similar. Slots combine a mid-range edge with hundreds of spins per hour, which is why they empty wallets faster than the table games above them.
Where Sports Betting Fits
A standard -110/-110 market carries roughly a 4.5% margin, worse than every major table game. But sports betting is uniquely compressible. Shopping lines across Ontario's licensed books and taking reduced-juice prices like -105 cuts the effective margin near 2%, and promotions push it lower. No casino lets you shop the same blackjack hand at three prices.
More importantly, sports odds are estimates rather than fixed physics. A bettor with genuine information or modelling skill can find prices where the implied probability is simply wrong, achieving positive expected value. It is hard, and most people who think they can do it cannot, but the possibility exists nowhere on the casino floor except card counting, which modern conditions have mostly closed off.
So the honest ranking depends on the player. For a casual gambler, blackjack basic strategy offers the cheapest entertainment per dollar. For a disciplined bettor willing to shop lines and hunt value, sports betting offers the best odds in gambling, including the only realistic path above 100% return.
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