Why Does the House Always Win? A Look at Casino Profitability
In gambling, nothing is left to chance By J.B. MAVERICK Updated February 17, 2022 Fact checked by SUZANNE KVILHAUG There’s one certainty in gambling: Nothing is left to chance. In the end, the house always comes out the winner. A casino is a business, not a charitable organization throwing free money away. Like any other business, it has a business model in place designed to ensure its profitability. KEY TAKEAWAYS A casino has a number of built-in advantages to ensure that it, and not its customers, will always win in the end. These advantages, known as the “house edge,” represent the average gross profit that the casino expects to make from each game. The longer you play, the greater the odds are that the result of your play will match up with the house edge—and that you will lose money. The house edge varies significantly among the different casino games, with blackjack the lowest and keno the highest. The House Edge No matter what game you choo...