"House edge" is an odd term when it applies to casino poker. Everyone knows that the casino table games like blackjack, craps, and others have an inherent house edge ranging from less than 1% for blackjack with perfect play to 30% or more for some keno bets. Poker isn't necessarily thought of as having a "house edge," because you're competing against the other players and not the house. "House edge" is not really inaccurate, however, because the house does have the biggest edge at the table.
The house charges a rake where they take a few dollars out of every pot. A common structure is a 5% rake up to $3. This means that once there's $10 in the pot, they take out (rake) 50 cents. They'll continue to take out 50 cents from the pot for every $10 until the $3 "cap" is reached. At that point any further money put into the pot is not raked.
A normal raked table, with a full game (every available seat has a player in it), rakes about $100 to $150 per hour for the house. This sounds like a lot, and it is, but casinos think in terms of earnings per square foot, and a slot machine makes a lot more than that, given the space it takes up.
That's why many casinos opt not to have poker rooms, and choose to fill any available space with a slot machine. Fortunately, with the current fervor for poker, primarily generated by its success on television, more and more rooms are opening, giving players more places to play.
A less-common way the house gets its "edge" is instead of raking the pots, they charge by the hour or half-hour. This is normally done for higher-limit games, such as $30-$60 or higher. These casinos or card rooms may charge anywhere from $5 to $12 per half-hour per player. You will see this more in California card rooms, but it is done in Las Vegas as well.
