The House Edge, Measured
Two figures, each with the uncertainty that belongs to it, and the conditions they were measured under. This is what a number looks like when somebody actually computed it.
Why a bare number tells you less
Almost every house edge figure in circulation is quoted bare — a single number, no interval, no rule set, no source. That is not a small omission. The same game with a different soft-seventeen rule produces a materially different answer, and a figure quoted without saying which one it measured is not wrong so much as meaningless.
Ours are measured, and we publish what the measurement actually produced: a value, the interval around it, the number of rounds behind it, and the exact game. If you want to check the arithmetic, the conditions are all there.
The interval is the part worth dwelling on. It is not a hedge — it is the honest width of the answer, and a source that reports a house edge to three decimal places with no interval is telling you less than it appears to, not more.
How we are required to show these
- The interval renders or the figure does not. A measured value without its uncertainty is a precision claim the measurement does not support.
- The four rule conditions render with it, always. An edge without its game is not a fact.
- It is an edge, never an earnings expectation. Never beside a money figure, never comparative, never superlative.
The pair, as measured
Dealer stands on soft 17
about a third of a percent
dealer stands on soft 17 · six deck · 3:2 blackjack · perfect basic strategy
Dealer hits soft 17
about half a percent
dealer hits soft 17 · six deck · 3:2 blackjack · perfect basic strategy