Table games online are a step up from slots in one important way: the decisions you make actually matter. Blackjack, roulette, and baccarat are the three you'll encounter at virtually every online casino, and each works differently. Understanding the mechanics before you sit down with real money isn't just useful. It changes the experience entirely.
Blackjack: the table game where skill narrows the house edge
Blackjack is the most strategically rich of the three. The goal is simple: get a hand total closer to 21 than the dealer without going over. Cards 2 through 10 count at face value. Kings, queens, and jacks count as 10. An ace counts as 1 or 11, whichever helps more.
Each round starts with two cards dealt to you and two to the dealer, one of the dealer's cards face down. From there, you choose to hit (take another card), stand (keep your total), double down (double your bet and take exactly one more card), or split (if your two cards match, separate them into two hands). Some variants also allow surrender, where you fold early and recover half your bet.
The house edge in blackjack sits around 0.5% when you play using basic strategy, a mathematically derived decision chart that tells you the optimal move for every possible hand combination against every possible dealer upcard. Without basic strategy, that edge climbs quickly. You can find basic strategy charts freely available online, and using one isn't cheating. It's just correct play.
Online blackjack typically comes in several variants. Classic blackjack uses one to two decks. Multi-deck blackjack uses six or eight. European blackjack restricts the dealer from checking for blackjack until after you've played, which changes a few strategic decisions. Live dealer blackjack streams a real dealer via video feed and lets you play at an actual table in real time.
Roulette: pure probability, with a twist depending on the wheel
Roulette doesn't reward skill the way blackjack does. Every spin is independent. The ball lands where it lands, and no betting pattern changes where it goes next.
The roulette wheel contains numbered pockets from 1 to 36, alternating red and black, plus one or two green pockets marked zero. European roulette has a single zero (0). American roulette adds a double zero (00). That difference matters: the house edge on European roulette is 2.7%, while American roulette's house edge sits at 5.26%. If you're playing table games online, pick European every time.
Bets in roulette fall into two categories. Inside bets cover specific numbers or small groups of adjacent numbers and pay out at higher rates. A straight-up bet on a single number pays 35:1. Outside bets cover broader outcomes: red or black, odd or even, low (1–18) or high (19–36). These pay 1:1 and hit close to half the time, minus the house edge from the zero pockets.
French roulette introduces two rules that push the house edge even lower. "La partage" returns half your even-money bet if the ball lands on zero. "En prison" holds your bet for the next spin instead of taking it. Either rule brings the house edge on even-money bets down to 1.35%, making French roulette the best version to play when you can find it.
Baccarat: fast, simple, and lower house edge than most players expect
Baccarat has a reputation as a high-roller game, but the rules are straightforward. Two hands are dealt: the Player hand and the Banker hand. You bet on which one wins, or whether they tie. You don't play either hand yourself. The cards are dealt and resolved by fixed drawing rules that require no decisions from you at all.
Card values work like this: aces count as 1, cards 2 through 9 count at face value, and 10s and face cards count as zero. Hand totals only use the last digit, so a hand of 7 and 8 totals 15, which counts as 5. The hand closest to 9 wins.
The Banker bet wins slightly more often than the Player bet because of the drawing rules, which is why casinos charge a 5% commission on Banker wins. Even with that commission, the Banker bet carries a house edge of around 1.06%, compared to 1.24% on the Player bet. The Tie bet, which typically pays 8:1 or 9:1, carries a house edge above 14%. Skip it.
Baccarat suits players who want fast, uncomplicated rounds with a low house edge. There's nothing to memorise. You place your bet, the cards resolve, and the round ends. For that reason it's the table game with the highest table limits at most online casinos, and it draws serious volume from Australian players.
Live dealer versions: how they work online
Most major online casinos now offer live dealer tables alongside standard digital versions of all three games. Live dealer tables stream from a real studio with a trained human dealer, physical cards, and a real roulette wheel. You see the action via video feed and place bets through an on-screen interface.
The rules are identical to their digital counterparts. The difference is atmosphere and pace. Live dealer rounds take slightly longer because cards are dealt by hand and the dealer manages the table. Some players strongly prefer the format because it removes any concern about random number generator fairness, even though certified RNG software is audited regularly.
Providers like Evolution Gaming supply live dealer tables to many Australian-facing casinos. You'll find multiple blackjack seats, roulette variations including Lightning Roulette and Immersive Roulette, and baccarat at high and standard limits running around the clock.
Which game suits you?
Choose blackjack if you want decisions to matter and are willing to learn basic strategy. The house edge rewards the work. Choose European or French roulette if you want a social, lower-commitment game with a wide range of bet types and no study required. Choose baccarat if you want the lowest house edge with almost no decisions to make.
All three are worth understanding before you deposit. If you're still getting familiar with how online casinos operate in Australia, the beginner's guide to how online casinos work covers the essentials. And if a table game comes with a welcome bonus, check the wagering requirements carefully before you claim it: table games often contribute less toward clearing a bonus than slots do, sometimes as little as 10%.