Games desk
Casino Games: The Tables, Wheels and Dice, With the Odds Attached
Every casino game carries a house edge, and the size of it varies more than the lobbies admit. Here is the whole floor, from craps to crash games, priced in plain figures.
By Conor FurlongChecked 18+
18+ only. Gambling can become a problem. Set a limit before you start. Help and support
Casino games are the tables, wheels, dice and cards you play against the house or against other players: roulette, blackjack, baccarat, craps, sic bo and poker, plus bingo, scratch cards and the newer crash and game-show formats. Each one has a house edge built into its payouts, and none of the online versions open to Irish players runs under an Irish gaming licence, because the GRAI has not issued any; it expects to start in early 2027.
This page is the map of the floor. It sets out how each game works, roughly what it costs per euro staked over time, and which versions are worth the seat. Slots have a section of their own under online slots. Everything here is for adults: 18+ only.
Online casino games at a glance
The figure that matters most in any casino game is the house edge: the share of each stake the operator expects to keep over a long run of play. It does not tell you what happens tonight. It tells you the price of the entertainment.
| Game | You play against | House edge on the main bet |
|---|---|---|
| European roulette (one zero) | The house | 2.70% |
| American roulette (zero and double zero) | The house | 5.26% |
| Blackjack, good rules, perfect basic strategy | The house | About 0.5% |
| Baccarat, banker bet | The house | 1.06% |
| Craps, pass line | The house | 1.41% |
| Sic bo, small or big | The house | 2.78% |
| Poker | Other players | None; the room takes a rake |
| Crash games, game shows, scratch cards | The house | Set by the provider; see the game's help screen |
The roulette, baccarat, craps and sic bo figures come straight from the arithmetic of the payouts. Blackjack depends on the table's rules and on how well you play. For branded instant games the return is whatever the studio publishes, and we do not repeat numbers we have not seen in a provider's own documents.
Table games and what the edge costs you
A worked example makes the edge concrete. Stake EUR 10 a spin on European roulette and the expected cost is 27 cent a spin: 2.70% of the stake. A hundred spins cost about EUR 27 on average, though any single evening can land well above or below that. On an American wheel the same hundred spins cost about EUR 52.60. Same game, nearly double the price, for the sake of one extra green pocket.
Blackjack is the cheapest game on most floors, but only for players who follow basic strategy and pick tables that pay 3 to 2 on a blackjack. Baccarat is nearly as cheap on the banker side and asks nothing of you beyond choosing where to put the chips. Our pages on online roulette, online blackjack and baccarat go through the rules and the side bets to leave alone.
Craps and sic bo: the dice tables
Craps looks like chaos and is simpler than it seems. On the first roll, the come-out, a 7 or 11 wins a pass line bet and a 2, 3 or 12 loses it. Any other total becomes the point, and the shooter keeps rolling: the point again before a 7 wins, a 7 first loses. The pass line carries a 1.41% edge. Once a point is set, the odds bet behind it pays at true odds and has no house edge at all, which makes it one of the few fair bets in any casino. The proposition bets in the middle of the craps table are where the edge climbs sharply.
Sic bo uses three dice. Small (a total of 4 to 10) and big (11 to 17) pay evens but lose to any triple, which is where the 2.78% comes from. Bets on a specific triple or a specific total pay large prices at a much steeper cost. Fewer online lobbies carry craps or sic bo than roulette; where they do, it is usually as a computer-dealt table or a live studio game.
Free casino games and what they can teach
Free play versions of casino games use the same rules and the same maths as the paid ones, with play money instead of euro. They are useful for one thing: learning the table layout and the order of play before money is involved. They tell you nothing about what the real game will do next, because no game remembers its last result. Social casino apps that sell bundles of chips are a different matter: the chips cannot be cashed out, but the money spent on them is real. We do not embed demos on this site.
Best casino games for the money staked
Ranked by cost alone, the best value bets on a typical floor are the blackjack hand played by the book, the banker bet in baccarat, the pass line with odds in craps and the even-money chances on a single-zero roulette wheel, especially where French la partage rules return half of an even-money stake when the ball finds zero. The worst are the ones dressed up as excitement: the baccarat tie, insurance at blackjack, sic bo triples and anything on a double-zero wheel.
Value is not the only measure. A slower game costs less per hour than a fast one at the same edge, and a live dealer table deals fewer hands an hour than a computer one. The quickest way to lose money at a low-edge game is to play it very fast.
Where Irish players find casino games online
There is no Irish online casino licence, so every site below runs its casino under a licence from another jurisdiction. Three are the gaming sides of companies that hold a GRAI remote betting licence for their sportsbooks: 32Red Casino (Platinum Gaming Limited), Quinn Casino (QuinnBet (Gibraltar) Limited) and Kwiff Casino (Kwiff Limited). That licence covers betting only. Karamba says its casino runs under Malta and Great Britain licences, and Lucky Pants Bingo is licensed in Gibraltar by the Gibraltar Gambling Commission.
| No. | Runner | Form | Licence | Verdict | Links |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  32Red CasinoPlatinum Gaming Limited | 1-4-5-4-5 | Foreign licence | Each-way | Visit |
| 2 |  Quinn casinoQuinnBet (Gibraltar) Ltd | 2-4-4-4-5 | Foreign licence | Each-way | Visit |
| 3 | Karamba CasinoAspire Global International Ltd | 1-4-5-4-5 | Foreign licence | Each-way | Visit |
| 4 | Lucky Pants BingoRank Interactive (Gibraltar) Ltd | 3-5-2-4-4 | Foreign licence | Each-way | Visit |
| 5 |  Kwiff CasinoKwiff Limited | 1-4-5-5-5 | Foreign licence | Each-way | Visit |
Form reads licence, markets, payments, safer-play tools, terms; 1 is best. How we rate. 18+ only.
The full rankings, with the reasoning behind each verdict, sit in the online casinos section. Offshore casinos on Curacao or Anjouan papers are left off every list here: no Irish licence, no Irish recourse, and a regulator a long way from Dublin if a withdrawal goes missing.
Playing for real money: the house rules
Since February 2026 Irish law bars gambling operators from taking credit cards or other credit, and licensees must let customers set their own deposit limits. Use that from the first day rather than the first bad night. Casino games are built to take a little of every stake, so set a budget you are content to lose and stop when it is gone. If it stops being fun, our responsible gambling page lists Irish help that we have checked.
Readers' questions
- Which casino game has the lowest house edge?
- Blackjack played with basic strategy at a table paying 3 to 2, at about 0.5%. Close behind are the baccarat banker bet at 1.06% and the craps pass line at 1.41%, with the craps odds bet carrying no edge at all.
- Are online casino games licensed in Ireland?
- No. The GRAI licenses online betting since July 2026 but has issued no gaming licences; it expects to begin in early 2027. Casino games offered to Irish players run under Malta, Great Britain, Gibraltar or other licences.
- How is craps played online?
- You bet on the outcome of two dice. A pass line bet wins on a 7 or 11 on the first roll and loses on 2, 3 or 12; any other total becomes the point, which must be rolled again before a 7.
- Do free casino games pay out?
- No. Free versions use play money only. They are useful for learning rules but do not predict how the paid version will run.