Online casino games have become increasingly popular over the past few years, with millions of players worldwide choosing online casinos over their brick-and-mortar counterparts.
The digital format makes hosting these games cost significantly less than operating a live casino, meaning there are countless different sites and a wide variety of games to choose from. This means online gamblers are frequently spoilt for choice; choosing what to get into can be very hard with so many options.
In this article, we will give an overview of some of the most popular online casino games and offer tips on choosing the best one for your tastes. We’ll go through each one, identifying its pros and cons compared to other games. Don’t be too intimidated; there’s a casino game out there for everyone, no matter what you like!
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Blackjack Overview
Blackjack is one of the most popular casino games out there, both physically and online. Players try to create the best hand possible, playing and betting against the dealer. The rules are simple: If your hand is worth more than the dealer’s you win. Getting a hand with a value of 21 is a “blackjack” and will automatically win you the game. However, going over 21 is a “bust,” meaning you automatically lose.
Hand value is calculated as the total value of all the cards in the hand. Numbered cards have their corresponding values, face cards like kings and queens are all worth ten, and aces can be used as either ones or elevens.
Players have two basic actions to improve their hand: “Hitting” and “Standing.” Hitting means requesting another card to improve your hand’s value. You can hit as much as you want, but remember that going over 21 is an auto-lose. Standing means finalizing your hand and becoming unable to hit anymore. Once both the player and the dealer have stood, the hands are compared, with the higher-value hand winning.
Play blackjack if…
Blackjack has a couple of appealing features that make it the premier game for beginners looking to enter the casino game scene. The first is its straightforward ruleset. Basic strategy can be learned easily with all the resources, making blackjack a lot less intimidating than games like craps, where there are a lot of unspoken etiquette and betting rules you need to know.
The second is the degree of control the player has over the outcome in blackjack. Many casino games like roulette and slots are pure games of chance, akin to trying to guess the outcome of a coin toss. Blackjack goes a step further and actively lets you influence the hand by deciding whether to hit or stand, making the game feel a lot more interactive.
Finally, your control over the game can significantly improve your odds. With proper blackjack strategy, you can get the house edge as low as 0.5%, meaning you only lose 50 cents for every $100 you gamble. These are great odds relative to other casino games, making blackjack an absolute staple.
Roulette Overview
Roulette is another casino classic where players bet on the outcome of a roulette wheel. A ball is dropped into a spinning wheel, and players try to guess where the ball will land. The wheel has slots numbered 1 to 36 and is painted evenly in red and black. There’s also one green slot labeled with a zero, increased to two for American roulette.
Players simply bet on which slot the ball will land, but that doesn’t mean they can’t get creative. There are many options, from betting on a specific number to betting on the color of the slot to betting on an odd or even number.
Choose roulette if…
You have a lot of disposable income and want an easy game to play. Quite frankly, roulette’s odds are not great. For American roulette with two zero slots, the house edge sits at about 5.26%, meaning a net loss of $5.26 for every $100 you bet. You need to have a decent bankroll to play roulette for a while, so make sure you know what you’re getting into.
Besides that, the appeal of roulette comes from how straightforward it is to play. There’s no game-specific strategy, so while you can employ betting techniques like the Martingale strategy to try and make up for the game’s odds, you really don’t need to. It’s a simple game that’s exciting to play, so it’s great for more casual players who don’t mind the poor odds.
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Poker Overview
Poker is another age-old casino game with many variants. The most popular form of poker by a mile is Texas Holdem. Players are dealt two “hole cards” only they can see, trying to make the best hand by combining their hole cards with the five “community cards” in the middle.
Holdem has four betting rounds: The pre-flop, flop, turn, and river. In each round, players can either check or bet when there’s no active bet and call, fold, or raise in response to an active bet.
Checking means betting nothing, passing the action to the next player after you. Betting is wagering money on your hand, adding to the pot, and creating an active bet that players must respond to for the round to progress.
Folding to a bet means leaving the game and becoming unable to participate in the hand or respond to active bets. Calling means matching the exact amount of the bet and passing the action to the next player. Finally, raising means increasing the bet amount and forcing all players to respond to the new, raised bet size.
Try poker if…
You enjoy competition and want to win. It’s no secret that in all casino games where you play against the dealer or house, the casino will always win in the long run. Even if it’s barely noticeable, like blackjack’s 50 cents per 100 dollars.
Poker is the exception since you don’t play against the house but against other players. Each player’s skill, strategy, and decisions impact the game’s outcome, creating a level playing field.
In addition, the casino already makes money by taking a percentage of every pot as a commission, known as the “rake.” Thus, it has no incentive to manipulate the game or favor certain players over others. As players can use their knowledge and experience to outplay their opponents to win, poker is a favorite amongst amateur and professional online gamblers.
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Pick your game and play it online now!
These are some of the most popular online casino games you can try. Choose the game that suits your tastes for winning odds, required skill, and personal control over the outcome, then go ahead and play!
