At the bottom of "blackjack return to player" lies a single number: the share of each stake a game keeps on average, known as the house edge. At table games it follows directly from the rules. A change in one payout or one dealer rule moves it, sometimes by more than the gap between two whole games. Knowing which rules matter lets a player compare tables in seconds and see what an hour of play is likely to cost.
Baccarat offers three main bets, and their edges are far apart. The banker bet keeps a little over one percent after its commission, the player bet slightly more, and the tie bet, despite its generous payout, keeps around fourteen percent. Side bets at every table game work the same way: big payouts on unusual hands, funded by an edge that dwarfs the one on the main wager. Staying with the main bets is the simplest way to keep the cost of a session low.
Blackjack played with sound strategy carries one of the lowest edges in a casino, often under one percent, and the rules decide exactly where it lands. A natural paid at six to five instead of three to two adds more than a full percentage point on its own. Fewer decks, the right to double after splitting and an offer of surrender each trim the edge slightly. A player who guesses instead of following basic strategy pays several times the published figure.
Video poker is unusual because its edge can be read straight from the pay table on the screen. Two machines with identical cards and rules can differ only in what a full house and a flush pay, and that difference alone can move the return by two or three points. A full pay table, played with the correct holds, returns close to everything staked over time. Machines with trimmed payouts look the same from a distance, so the numbers in the table are what separates them.
Related questions: