Whilst we can’t think of any other reason to visit a casino other than to play games – if you want to confess your sins or fix a broken arm there are better places to go – the array of online casino games can often seem bewildering to the neophyte or even to a regular player.
Casino gaming can be broken down into variable odds and fixed odds betting.
It is the latter group we are interested in – games where the odds, or likelihood, of winning any given bet remain the same regardless of when you play it or how much you wager at any time (provided the internal workings of the game remain unchanged).
This would include not only online slots, but also table games such as Roulette and Baccarat.
For the record, variable odds betting where the offered odds can change depending on events (but will always be published and up to date) allows 2 people to win different amounts of money for the same outcome and same amount wagered, if they had bet at different times or with different casinos.
The best example of this is of course sports betting which, whilst outside the scope of this section, is provided by many reputable gambling sites as well as slots and table games.
Back to the fixed odds betting. This can be further subdivided into 2 broad categories which we’ve already noted: Slots and table games.
Table games feature highly on any casino games list. Roulette, Craps, Baccarat, Blackjack, Punto Banco, Oasis Poker, Video Poker, Texas Hold ‘em Poker, Carribean Poker and others all vie for your attention.
Not only that, but there will often be multiple versions of any one game. For instance Roulette comes in at the very least American, European and French versions (we recommend the last) and Blackjack can be in multi-deck, single-deck and multi-hand versions.
But the key distinction is what kind of stakes you can play for.
Furthermore, Live Dealer versions of the major table games are also provided by most online casinos which allow you to interact face to face with a real croupier on the screen – particularly useful if your situation doesn’t allow you to visit the bricks and mortar or high street casino if you will.
With most sites you can choose from lower stakes (where minimum bets might be as much as 10 or 20 cents) all the way up to the ‘high roller’ or ‘gold’ versions (where max bets might be 500) so you get a chance to practice without losing much, or just to play for fun depending on your means.
There are also less well known casino games online such as Red Dog Progressive and yet more types of Poker and even multi-wheel Roulette.
It’s beyond the scope of our introduction to go through the finer points of these so make sure you do your research!
But are there any tips at all you can give when you play casino games?
Well, the primary good move which springs to mind is that you take advantage of free play that is often offered with both table games and slots.
We aren’t talking about Welcome Bonuses here, but rather play money which, as it suggests, doesn’t cost you anything, but any wins you accrue will just be on screen and not anything which you can take home with you.
The second big category among online casino games is of course slots, which come in all sorts of guises.
Essentially we can distinguish progressive jackpot slots, which are the best casino games in terms of potential payout, sometimes paying out in the millions as every player of the slot in question contributes to a large pot which is often linked across casinos, 3D slots which boast some of the best technologies, and more traditional games reminiscent of the amusement arcades of old.
Of course there will be some cross over between these different categories.
Finally, did you know that there are other casino games which occupy both ends of the simple-complicated axis?
In other words, you can also play Keno and Bingo with online casinos, and at the same time, cerebral games like Backgammon are also getting increasingly popular!
Perhaps it is only a matter of time until Chess becomes the next casino game of choice for brainy gamblers!