A low edge can still be expensive when money turns over quickly.
House edge is a rate. Session cost depends on how much action passes through that rate.
Expected loss ≈ wager per decision × decisions × house edge. If decisions are estimated from time, multiply decisions per hour by hours played.
Illustrative pace benchmarks
Published casino-operations estimates show how strongly table occupancy can affect pace. Blackjack has been estimated around 209 hands/hour heads-up but roughly 60 hands/hour with six players; roulette around 112 spins/hour with one player versus about 35 with six; craps roll pace also falls as the table fills.
Example
A $25 wager at a 1% edge produces an expected cost of $0.25 per comparable decision. At 50 decisions the expectation is $12.50; at 200 decisions it is $50. The edge did not change—the amount of action did.
What the model omits
Real sessions include changing bet sizes, pushes, side bets, strategy errors, varying craps denominators, comp value and substantial short-run variance. The model is a budgeting lens, not a forecast of tonight’s result.