The popularity of online casino gaming continues to grow year on year. Back in the early days of the internet, it was seen as a shady pastime enjoyed by shady characters, but all that has changed in recent years. Better transparency and changing attitudes mean that people now see online casinos as a harmless way for responsible adults to spend leisure time.
Specifically, the main objective these days is to have fun. Players understand that like most enjoyable pastimes, casino gaming will cost them money. After all, the house always wins, as the casino needs to make a profit to survive.
Beating the odds
Having said all that, casino games are all about odds and probabilities. On a particular night, there will be players who walk away with a profit and others who sustain a loss. The casino’s main priority is to ensure the latter outweighs the former. But as a player, there are measures you can take to improve your chances of remaining in the former category.
None of these tips will make you a guaranteed winner, and you’ll still have losing nights like everyone else. But in combination, they will improve your chances of playing online casinos real money games and walking out a winner.
Be smart with bonuses
To the untrained eye, most online casinos look as if they are giving money away with all those bonus offers you see online and on the late-night TV commercials where they are legal. Some bonuses really are worth taking, but there are others that are purely designed to lure you in through the doors.
Specifically, be aware of huge playthrough or wagering requirements and caps on payouts. There is no such thing as a bad bonus – even the ones that are unlikely to win you anything give you a chance to practice some games for free. But play them smart and make use of no-deposit offers with little or no wagering requirement and you have a genuine edge, at least for a short time!
Use your skill
Spend all night at the roulette wheel, and there’s nothing you can do to improve your chances. All the experience in the world won’t help you predict where the ball will land. However, with games like blackjack and video poker, you make strategic decisions such as splitting pairs or holding certain cards.
Spend some time online learning the optimum strategy for these games and you can dramatically level the playing field. With some video poker variations, you can even negate the house edge entirely, but you have to make the right call every time.
Place fewer bets
If you play a single game of roulette and put $10 on red, there’s almost a 50/50 chance of winning. Play 1000 games and the odds will even out and you will lose a little more than you win.
By reducing the number of bets you stand a better chance of cheating fate and walking away while you are ahead.