The Ultimate Guide to Casinos

 
 

Fundamental Online Casino Tips

It is easy to be overwhelmed by the choice on offer at some of the better online casinos.  To make this easier you might want to focus on one area until you are comfortable with it such as slot games, video poker, card or table games. The following overarching online casino tips that are not game specific will all help you do better at casinos, have a more rewarding experience and a better chance of coming out ahead.

Take advantage of Free Play options – If you have never played Blackjack or Sic Bo before then why not get familiar with a game before playing for cash?  Also with slot games playing for free can help you understand what maximum bets are and how the machine plays, enhancing your experience when you play for money.  There are also some “free play” promotions which give you opportunity to turn your initial play into either withdrawable cash or your sign up bonus if you deposit.

Choosing the right casino for you – what are your standards in terms of player fairness, customer service and software used?  Some people go for the very best and safest casinos and are willing to sacrifice some juicy bonuses for safety, familiarity, convenience and an all round high quality gambling experience.  Make sure the casino you choose offers the range of games you want to play and balance this choice with getting the right bonus offer.

Choose the right bonus offer – and remember the right bonus offer may be no bonus at all (to avoid the play-through requirements associated with a bonus), you want to get the balance between benefiting from the bonus and not being too restricted in which site you play on and how you gamble once you are there.  If you are new to gambling you might want to start off with fairly straight forward bonuses such as the 32Red Casino bonus.  You want to avoid bet restrictions, game restrictions etc. that reduce your playing experience.  Play the bonus but don’t let the bonus play you.  If you use bonuses wisely they can greatly enhance your gaming experience and increase your chances of coming out ahead.

Game selection – Get the best odds, whether this is playing the most player friendly blackjack variant or slot games with the best payout percentages.  For some games it is the same whichever casino you play them on whereas other software companies such as IGT offer casinos three payout rates that casinos can choose from.  On slots alone you will find payout rates varying from under 90% to almost 99% depending on which game you choose.  It is fine to sacrifice some payout percentages if you particularly enjoy a game.  You also want to think a little about how much variance you want.  Do you want the chance in a single spin of winning hundreds of thousands or would you rather focus on smaller and more likely wins.

Bet selection – Not all bets are equal – insurance at Blackjack has a particularly poor expected value and you should never take insurance.  If you are playing a slot game and not playing maximum lines this can also reduce your payout rates.  In games such as Craps and Sic Bo different bets have very different return to player rates. Therefore, simply choosing bets wisely will significantly increase your odds and provide a longer and more enjoyable experience.

Optimise strategy or go for pure luck games – It would be interesting to see what payout rates are for the average customer on games with a high skill element such as Blackjack or Video Poker but it will be much less than it would be if players use optimal play.  If you do not want to learn how to play effective strategies or to remember which bets in craps offer the best value then you will often get the best odds by sticking with pure luck games such as slots.  This also holds true for the inexperienced poker player as most would actually have far better chances of winning big if they switched to pure luck games as they have not yet got what it takes to play the game profitably.

BR (BankRoll) management and safety – Gambling can be addictive and it is important to set sensible limits on how much you deposit, when you will withdraw money and how much you will play.  At the very least you should keep a careful log of your wins and losses and if you feel you are gambling too much then ask the casino to place limits on your deposits and try to cut down.  It is also very easy to get greedy and throw all your winnings back into the casino through not cashing out when you have reached some targets.  If you are responsible, online casinos can be great fun and offer far better chances of winning than you will find in lotteries and live casinos.  Sensible limits such as £50 a month deposits can also make the gambling more exciting as you cannot just redeposit if the money is lost.

Game Tips

In addition to the above we have provided some game specific tips on some of the most popular games which should also give you a good start.