Online casinos are booming in popularity as more sites pop up every year, bringing with them a host of new and exciting games. These sites can be accessed using your phone and desktop, meaning you can play the games pretty much whenever and wherever you want. As such, it’s no wonder that the online casino market is expected to be worth £35.34bn.
With more beginners entering the scene (and experienced players looking for new titles to try), we’ve taken a look at how to play in casino sites, what you should keep in mind while playing and how to register at online casinos.
In broad strokes, a casino game is any game that requires you to gamble money to play it. The basic premise is that you place a bet, and there’s a chance for you to lose or win. Games at casinos are primarily divided into four categories (though there are exceptions):
When looking at how to play online casino titles, the most popular game type, accounting for about 70% of casino revenue, is slots, so we’ll look at those first.
Slots use a layout of reels and rows, with symbols on them. Five reels by three rows (5x3) is one of the most common designs you’ll find. When a player presses the spin/play button, the reels spin for a moment.
When they stop, specific combinations of symbols will result in wins. These symbols will usually have to stop on designated ‘paylines’, although a lot of modern slots use different pay mechanics such as ‘cluster pays’ or ‘pay both ways’.
You’ll also find a ton of different mechanics in slots, from Megaways (the number of paylines can increase up to 117,649 if not more) to progressive jackpots that increase with every bet made on that game.
Slots also come with adjustable bet sizes for each spin. Typically, you’ll be able to bet between £0.10 and £5 (per UKGC requirements). Other slots will let you adjust the volatility (covered below) or even unlock special features, like free spins.
You can read a slot’s paytable to see the winning combinations and bonus features, but it’s important to remember that wins depend on luck; each game uses a special algorithm called an RNG (random number generator) that ensures no two spins have the same result.
This game has a history dating back to the 17th century. Roulette uses a spinning wheel with 37 or 38 pockets, depending on the variation. In American Roulette, pockets are numbered 0 to 36, with an additional 00. In European and French Roulette, there isn’t a 00 pocket. In every version, pockets alternate between red and black, but zeros are green.
As the wheel spins, a small ball is dropped in by a croupier. The goal is to bet on which pocket the ball will land. Some of the possible wagers include:
All online table games are played against the house (ie. the dealer/croupier, or computer if it’s a non-live version). Blackjack is often considered as having the lowest house edge (aka the ‘best chance’ for a player to win), making it a very popular casino game.
Typically, the player receives two cards, both face up, while the dealer places one of their cards face up and the other face down. The aim is to get your hand as close to 21 without surpassing it.
You have to look at whether you think your hand’s value will be closer to 21 than the dealer’s cards, depending on what their face-up card is. Cards are equal to their number, while the king, queen and jack (face cards) are equal to 10. The ace card can be worth either one or 11, depending on which works for your hand.
Most regard poker as a ‘game of skill’, and it’s very popular among expert casino players. However, knowing how to play casino online poker games can be challenging, as it’s also one of the most complicated games.
The basic premise is you have to possess the best hand. Winning poker hands include:
Through to lower value hands:
Although there are dedicated poker sites where you do play against other people, normal online casinos don’t have this type of poker. You’ll either face-off against the computer or a live dealer and you will need to have a better hand than what they draw.
In baccarat, the dealer deals two hands, each containing two cards on the table, for the player and banker respectively.
You place your bet on whether you think the player’s hand or the banker’s hand will be higher. You can also bet on a tie. If a hand total is more than 10, then the 10 is dropped (so a hand of 16 becomes six). Meanwhile, a hand equal to 10 becomes a zero (also known as ‘baccarat’).
Craps is a dice game that can seem complicated for new players, but it’s relatively easy to get into. You must place your bet before the ‘shooter’ rolls the dice and the two main types are:
There are also other bets, like ‘come bets', ‘don’t come bets’, ‘place bets’, ‘odds’, ‘field bets’, ‘proposition bets’, ‘hardaways’ and ‘hop bets’, all of which are displayed on-screen so you can see which numbers they involve.
This title is a lottery-style game you play using a card with numbers one to 80. You choose a set amount to mark (eg. 15 numbers), and place your wager. The host (for live online versions) or computer for normal online ones, will then call out/display 20 numbers, and you win depending on how many numbers you can match. It’s a thrilling yet relatively easy game, making it ideal for beginner and expert players.
When looking into how to play online casino scratchcard titles, you’ll find that they operate much the same as physical scratchcards. You ‘buy’ the scratchcard, which is your bet. Then, you reveal the symbols below the icons, seeing whether you have a win or a loss.
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