In online casinos, so much money is constantly changing hands. Thus, maybe you are wondering where does all the money go. Looking at the player’s perspective, you can clearly see that the money simply "comes" to you when you are lucky, and "goes" to house when it is not your lucky day. You can simply earn some money from your work just to get back and play at the casinos.

Let’s take a look at the perspective of the online casino. Do you know that they spend a lot for the maintenance fees, salaries of the employees, advertising, etc. Wondering where does the money come from? Does the money just circulate in the players themselves, where the winners just take them from the losers? How does the casino make a profit? Well, let’s find out.

House Edge

At the first look, online casino games appear free of influence from the house, but if you would inspect the odds carefully, these casino games contains one of the most powerful source of income for the casino website, that is, the house edge. While most players will just bet amongst themselves at the casino games, the online casino is constantly collecting the house edge from every hand, either a win or a loss. But what is the house edge exactly?

The house edge is simply the difference between the true winning odds of any casino games, and the actual odds used by the online casino in determining the payouts. Instead of breaking even, the players are only paid out a slightly lower amount by the casino. If you see a 5% house edge in any casino game, this means that in the long run, the players will lose 5% of their bankroll and the house will only pay out 95% among the winners.

For example, a certain bet have a 10% or 1:10 chance of winning. The casino applies a 5% on this bet, and will only pay the player 1:9.5 (such as $9.50 for a $1 bet, instead of $10) if ever the bet is won. Thus, the casino will collect $0.50 for each bet.

Because of this house edge, online casinos gain significant profits, regardless of the numbers of the players that win or lose in a period of time.

Rake

In some games like online poker, there is a commission that is collected for each round. This can either be a fixed flat fee or a percentage of the total bets made for each round. This commission in online casinos is commonly called the RAKE. This rake is important for the online casino when the house only acts as the dealer and is not capable of winning unlike other table games like blackjack, craps, and roulette.

Game Structure

Games like online blackjack allow the online casino to become players and is capable of winning. Aside from this, the way the games and rules are set up give the dealer some significant advantages. In the blackjack game, the advantage of the dealer over the players is that the players have to play their cards first before the dealer. Thus, if the players bust, the dealer wins and there is no need for the dealer’s card to be played.

Now, I guess that you have the insight on how the online casinos make their profit. But don’t just assume that they are just designed to take your money away. Consider these factors the fee for the fun and entertainment that you can obtain when you play online casino games, and never forget the chance of you winning large prizes.