Introduction to the World of Casinos
Casino gambling can be a confusing world to those who are new to the subject. You find a lot of contradictory information online, and some of it just plain incorrect. This guide takes away the jargon, and gives you an overview of the core principles of casino gambling on one page.
First of all below, you will find out how casinos make their money – and how some players will win and some lose on any given night. After that some advice on keeping the money the casino makes from you to a minimum. This is in general terms - there are plenty of individual casino game guides here that will give you more specific information. Next, how much money you should take and what bet sizes you should play with is covered. Towards the end of this page I have looked at the subject of online casinos, giving you an overview of how these work.
How Casinos Make Money
Each and every casino game has what is known as a ‘House Edge’. This is built in mathematically, and assumes you are playing a perfect strategy. These percentages vary from game to game. The lowest house edge games are just 1% (Blackjack, Baccarat), while some games clock in at 3% (casino poker) and 5% (American Roulette).
What you need to keep in mind, is that these percentages are for every bet made. Some players will win in the short term and anyone can lose on a given night. Over millions of hands (or spins), the take of the casino will look exactly like the house edge percentage.
For slot machines, there is slightly different terminology. The amount of money a slot gives back to players is the thing measured. This is called the Payback percentage. Overall this is around 95%. This means that 5c is kept for every dollar you spin over the long-run – whether you win or lose on this occasion.
How to Keep House Edge to a Minimum
Casinos make a lot of money from players who do not play the ‘correct’ strategy in their games. A good example would be hitting in Blackjack when you should stand, this might cost you an addition 8% of your equity gifting money to the house. The first tip is to make sure you learn the games, this is easy to do for free at many online casinos, and there are also rules cards in many casinos to help you out.
The second tip is to avoid the many side-bets which go along with table games. These might include jackpots, or betting on pairs appearing with your cards in Blackjack. These types of bets have a terrible rate of return to players.
Finally, make sure you are collecting comp points – for example with a player card. These points can add up fast and will get you’re a free dinner or upgraded accommodation.
How Much Money To Take To A Casino?
The oldest advice in casino gambling is still the best. The first rule is that you should only ever gamble with money that you can afford to lose. With this in mind, you can take enough to make any wins meaningful to you, and split it up depending on what kind of game you are playing. This is known as casino bankroll management.
I like to use 30 bets for table games as a base-line. For a $10 game this would be $300. If you are playing a higher variance game like Let It Ride then you can add to this number, or take some bets away for a lower variance game like Baccarat. If you win and end up with 30 bets for the next level up, then you can up your stakes and see whether you can turn the night into a big winner.
How do Online Casinos Work?
Nowadays, there are many virtual casinos. If you are located in the US, you can access casinos operating offshore in the Caribbean. Internationally, there are many big European brands to choose from. These casinos run slots, table games and entertainment games too, the stakes are generally a lot lower than in brick and mortar casinos.
The vast majority of online casinos are safe and reputable, and include many household name brands. You should do some quick checks upfront to make sure that you are about to play at a safe online casino. After that you can use our casino deposits information to get your money on board and start enjoying the games on the virtual felt.
Online casinos have become pretty advanced nowadays, you will find live dealer casino games which are live streamed from Studios around the world. You can also find mobile casinos, which have been optimized to work on your smartphone or tablet. For the biggest and best bonus deals, it is often worth looking at New online casinos – that have the marketing budgets to throw around.