House edge is per bet. Hold is per visit, and it is much larger, because a player recycles the same money through many bets before leaving.
A craps table with a 1.4% edge on the main bets typically holds 12% to 15% of the money dropped on it. Nothing about the edge changed; the same chips were simply wagered a dozen times over.
That gap is the most useful thing on this page. Time at the table, not the edge alone, determines what a session costs, which is why a fast game at a low edge can be more expensive than a slow game at a high one.
Where the numbers come from
Related terms in casino floor
- Commission — A percentage charged on winning bets that would otherwise favour the player.
- Push — A tie in which the bet neither wins nor loses and the stake is returned.
- Natural — A hand that wins immediately on the first cards dealt.
- Shoe — The box holding several shuffled decks from which cards are dealt.
- Cut card — A coloured plastic card placed in the shoe to mark where dealing stops.
- Penetration — The proportion of a shoe dealt before the reshuffle.
Where an entry quotes a number, that figure comes from the computed sections of this site rather than from another glossary, so the definition and the derivation cannot drift apart. Each entry links to the page where the number is worked out.