Casino games, and especially those played online, have seen a surge in popularity over recent months. That’s good news for operators, as it means more revenue. It’s also good news for gamers, as more people playing incentivizes the platforms game developers to plough more money into creating better and more varied gaming experiences.
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Does the house always win?
Ultimately, that experience is what casino gaming is all about. For sure, we all dream of hitting the jackpot and walking away with a tidy profit, but we also know the number one rule of casinos. In the end the house always wins. After all, a casino is a business like any other, with overheads and profit targets to meet, so it has to take in more money than it pays out.
While most casual gamers accept this, there are some who insist it is possible to beat the house. They even claim they can do so with sufficient regularity to make casino gaming their primary source of income.
The house edge
When it comes to winning or losing, casino games are all about mathematical probabilities. The average payout must always be slightly less than the odds of the win. This is how the casino makes a profit and is known as the house edge. For example, in roulette, red or black pays out at even money, but the odds of either is actually slightly less than 50 percent due to the green zero.
This equates to a house edge of 2.7 percent. So for every $100 wagered at the roulette wheel, the casino will on average come out $2.70 up. If a pro gambler is to make a profit, he or she needs to find a way around that house edge. There are two possible ways to achieve this.
Choose your platform
Another consequence of casino gaming’s popularity is that the marketplace is highly competitive. New operators are arriving on the scene every week, especially from the new gaming hotspots like Scandinavia, where they are known as nettikasinot and feature games from major developers. All that competition is good news, as it means they will be offering special deals and promotions such as no deposit bonuses and free spins.
Now if you are effectively getting two bites at the cherry for every dollar you wager, that is clearly shifting the odds in your favor, and can even push the house edge into negative territory. Always read the small print, however, as some promotions have wagering requirements that require all winnings to be re-bet a set number of times before you can withdraw any money.
Choose your game
Jumping from one platform to another to catch the special deals will not last forever. A longer term solution is to choose a game that involves skill as well as luck. Clearly, with roulette, you cannot influence where the ball lands. But with a game like blackjack or poker, winning or losing is dependent partially on the turn of a card but also on the choices you make.
There is no simple way to beat the house – if there was, every casino would be out of business. Becoming an expert in blackjack or poker demands hard work, practice and dedication, but the best players can and do win more than they lose.
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