Online Casino Games

With hundreds of online casinos out there fighting for your patronage, your first foray into online gambling can be a little intimidating.  The most important thing to consider when picking an online casino is its reputation for integrity.  When trusting your personal information and gambling funds with an out of state online casino, the integrity of your site is of utmost importance.

Do your research and look for recommendations on the web.  Casinos with names that you see often are good places to look in to.  When you find a good online casino, you won’t have to move your money across different sites since online casinos have a wide variety of games.

Some of the more common online casino games include:

Online Slots

Slots are the most popular casino game online and at land based casinos.  The slot machines in brick and mortar casinos usually have payout rates of 85% - 90% while online slots, with their lower overheard costs, offer payouts of 95% - 98%.  Slots are the easiest games to play at a casino – all you have to do is load your money, click the button and wait for the slot machine to tell you when you’ve won.

There are several different types of slots to play online.

 ● Progressive Jackpot – A network of slots are linked to each other and as more people put money in, the bigger the jackpot grows.  When someone hits the jackpot, it starts over and begins growing again

 ● Three Reel Slots – This is the classic slot machine.  Three reels and one to three pay lines.  Very popular for its ease of use and familiarity.

 ● Five Reel Slots – These are similar to the three reel machines except they have two additional reels and more pay lines.  These slots sometimes offer free spins and wild symbols.

 ● Bonus Feature Slots – These are fun games to play because if you hit certain combinations, various bonus games and options will open up for play.

 ● Multiplier Slots – Multipliers give additional payouts for inserting the maximum number of coins in a machine.  For example, say one quarter pays out $10, two quarters pays out $20, three quarters pays out $30, but four quarters pay out $60 instead of the expected $40.

Online Roulette

This circle-spinning, ball-dropping game has been glamorized for years.  American roulette wheels have the numbers 1-36 plus 0 and 00.  European roulette wheels have the numbers 1-36 but only one 0.  The difference between the two is the European roulette table is slightly more favorable to the player than the American casino.  To best explain the game, here are the different bets and payouts:

Inside Bets

 ● Straight Bet – Bet on a single number.  The payout is 35 to 1.

 ● Split Bet or Two Number Bet – To bet on two adjacent numbers by placing chips on the line between two numbers.  The payout is 17 to 1.

 ● Street Bet or Three Number Bet – To bet that one of three numbers will hit.  Payout is 11 to 1.

 ● Square Bet, Corner Bet or Four Number Bet – To bet that one of four numbers will hit.  Payout is 8 to 1.

 ● Five Number Bet – To bet that any one of five numbers will hit.  Payout is 6 to 1.

Outside Bets

 ● Even Money Bet – To place a bet that the ball will land on either red or black, even or odd, high or low.  The payout is 1 to 1.

 ● Group Bet – To bet on a group of twelve numbers.  The payout is 2 to 1.

 ● Column Bet – To bet on one of the groups of numbers in the vertical lines on the roulette table.  The payout is 2 to 1.

Online Craps

The craps tables are one of the most intimidating casino games for new players.  New players often see groups of people crowding the craps table making all kinds of noise, and they don’t want to walk in and look stupid.  The best thing about online craps is you don’t have to worry about looking stupid and you can take all the time you need to figure the game out.

There are over a hundred different bets players can place at the craps table, so I can’t go into them all right now.  The basic idea and simplest bet in craps is based on the pass line.  One player is the shooter, and he rolls two dice down the table.  Before he rolls, the other players place bets in the pass line that wraps around the outside edge of the table. 

If the shooter rolls a 7 or 11 on his first roll, then everyone who placed pass line bets automatically win.  If he rolls a 2, 3 or 12, everyone automatically loses their bets.  If the shooter rolls any other number, then players hope that the shooter rolls that exact number again before he rolls a 7.

So, if the shooter rolls a 5, everyone at the table is going to hope to see him roll a 5 before he rolls a 7.  If he does, everyone wins their pass line bets.  If he rolls a 7 before that number, everyone loses their pass line bets.

Online Blackjack

This is another popular casino game thanks to its simplicity and small house advantage.  The small house advantage is dependent upon the players using correct blackjack strategy though; the house advantage can quickly grow as a player deviates from optimal strategy.

The goal of blackjack is to get as close to 21 as possible without going over.  Number cards are worth the number printed on them, face cards are worth 10 and aces are worth 11 or 1 based upon the player’s desire.

Players are dealt two cards and may choose to hit or stand.  If a player chooses to hit, he is dealt another card.  If the player chooses to stand, he will not receive any more cards.

There are several other bets that are allowed at the blackjack table:

 ● Doubling Down – The player doubles his wager and receives one more card.  The player is not allowed to have any more cards after that one.

 ● Split – This means to break a pair of cards into two separate hands and play them separately.  During a split, the wager is doubled as well.

 ● Insurance – If the dealer is showing an ace, you can choose to take insurance.  If the dealer’s hidden card ends up being a ten or a face card, your bet is paid back to you at 2 to 1 odds.

 ● Early Surrender – The player has the option to surrender before the dealer checks his or her cards.

 ● Late Surrender – The player has the option to surrender after the dealer checks his or her cards.

No matter what game you choose at an online casino, remember to gamble smart.  Don’t play with money you can’t afford to lose, because the odds are in the favor of the casino and there’s nothing you can do about it.  When you do decide to gamble, also remember to pick a safe site with a well known reputation.  Good luck!