Staff Writer
People do not just go to casinos – online or brick-and-mortar – for serious gambling sessions. Sometimes they go to have fun by playing the many games a casino has to offer. Some games are easy, which is where most people get their thrills, but some games are definitely not for beginners because the rules are complicated and may seem contrived.
Most people would advise beginners to stick to the 3-reel or 5-reel slots until they get the lay of the land, but seasoned casino veterans know that mastering the complicated games is where most of the fun and satisfaction is to be had. Anyone can spin a 3-reel or 5-reel slot machine and hope for a random win, but to win at blackjack, for example, requires both strategy and luck.
By outlining these complicated games, it does not mean you should stay away from them. It just means you have got some work to do in order to master them. But once you do, you will find the gameplay to be rewarding.
Progressive Jackpot Jubilee
Yes, there are some slots that are for beginners, but progressive slots are not one of them. Progressives, as they are called, are where the jackpot is at, and the money you can win here can transform your life – this is why serious players go for these types of slots.
Basically, a progressive slot is a slot machine where the winnings or jackpot increases by a tiny percentage every time a player makes a bet. When someone wins the jackpot, the winnings are reset and start accumulating again into a new jackpot. Some progressives are linked across casinos, which means the jackpot increases much faster and you compete with other players simultaneously. Everyone has their eye on the jackpot because it usually reaches millions.
So where do progressives get extremely complicated? Well, you have to research each one and do the math in order to find one that offers a good balance between the players currently playing, the amount of money to be won and the odds of winning. It is no longer just a game of spinning the slots and hoping to win (well, you can do that, but you will be hemorrhaging money while the pot gets further and further away).
The research is not about trying to predict the outcome (no one can do that), but it is about finding a progressive that gives you a much higher chance of winning the pot. This will affect the way you spend money and how long you play the game to remain in the race for the jackpot. That is not an easy thing to do.
Roulette Rendezvous
You might be asking yourself what is so complicated about roulette. You just pick a number and hope that the ball lands on the number you picked. Surely, many beginners have gone into roulette thinking this is the best way to play the game, only to be confused by the number of betting options and walk away from the table feeling angry and frustrated.
Yes, the game does have a number of easy bets that one can make without knowing any complex rules. One of these bets is known as an outside bet. For example, an outside bet can have you placing a bet that the ball will land on either a red or black color. This gives you close to a 50% chance of winning, but the wins are low compared to the other kinds of bets that you make. Other types of outside bets include betting on even or odd numbers, a range of numbers or a dozen bet (this is where you pick 12 numbers and hope that the ball lands on one of them).
The game gets complicated once you start making inside bets. With an inside bet, you have to guess which number and color the ball will land on, which is far from easy. One of the most popular types of inside bets is the corner bet, which is where you put your chip in the middle of four numbers. The odds of winning this bet are low, with a 10.5% chance of winning when playing American roulette and a 10.8% when playing European roulette, but the wins are 8:1. The odds of winning on the American roulette table is slightly lower because the table has an extra zero (the double zero) compared to a European roulette table, which only has one zero.
If you have enough money, you can mix and match a number of inside and outside bets with the right strategy to keep yourself playing longer and minimize your risk. This is what smart players do. A good idea is to go online and practice on free roulette tables until you understand all the betting options and strategies before going to play roulette with real money.
Craps Cantering
Craps is another one of those games that is extremely popular at casinos. You have probably seen it being played in many movies, where the hero of the story walks up to a crowded craps table. He tells one of the beautiful ladies standing next to him to blow on the dice before he rolls them to reveal the winning numbers. Everyone cheers and he repeats this until he walks away with a big win.
The basic rules of craps are that there is a total of 40 wagers that you can make. When it is your turn to roll the dice, you become what is known as a shooter, and if another player at the table is rolling, they are the shooter. To make a bet, you place a chip on the pass line and the shooter rolls the dice. Now, to win the pass line bet, you need the total of the dice to be either a 7 or an 11. If the shooter rolls either a 2, 3 or 12, then you lose.
If the shooter rolls any number other than the ones mentioned above, that number is known as a point. To win the pass line bet, the shooter must then roll the exact same point again, but if the shooter rolls a seven a 7, you will lose the bet. That is as simple as the game gets. It is all just a game of chance, and one can easily lose money if the luck is not on their side.
However, there are a number of betting strategies you can use to increase your chances of winning. One of them is called the Come Bet. If the shooter makes a point, you can wager that their next roll will be either a 7 or 11. If they roll a 2, 3 or 12, you lose. Another bet you can make is known as the do not pass bet, where if the shooter rolls a 2 or 3, you win, but if they roll a 7 or 11, you lose. Rolling a 12 will lead to a push, which is neither a win nor a loss.
Mixing and matching the right type of strategies is how you minimize risks in craps, making it a hard game to master. Some players have even resulted in using a complicated but controversial strategy known as dice control. Basically, dice control states that if you throw the dice a specific way, you can get the outcome you want every time. There is a small percentage of people that believe dice control actually works, but, so far, there is no conclusive evidence that it does.
Poker Party Perils
Poker is one of the most popular casino games in the world due to its mixture of luck and skill. There are different types of poker games, each with their own unique set of rules that the players need to understand and master.
But once, you have those rules down, you will be able to have some real fun with it. A basic game of poker involves the dealer handing out cards to each player on the table.
Then everyone compares their cards to the dealer's cards to see which of them has the best hand. If you have the best hand, then you win that round.
Poker gets extremely complicated because there are other players involved. You all want to prove to the dealer that you have the best hand, and you all want to make the other player think that their hand is the worst. This involves a bit of lying to trick the other players into thinking you have the best hand so that they doubt theirs and fold. So, there is a bit of psychology involved when it comes to playing poker.
When you are at a physical table, you can watch your opponents and try to figure out if they have a good or bad hand by watching their facial expressions and reading their body language. But at the same time, you have to be aware that they are trying to misdirect you. The really good players are hard to read and can put on a blank and emotionless facial expression called a poker face. This can make poker games extremely intense. And this takes them years of practice just to get right, as a poker face is essential to winning and making money at a poker table.
A poker face is easy to pull off online since all the communication comes down to instant messaging. While this does not make it impossible to read your opponents, it makes it extremely difficult and can quickly complicate a poker game if you are in it to win.
Blackjack Business
The complexity of blackjack comes from the fact that it is a game that doesn’t allow much room for freestyling.
Highly skilled players can turn a bad or hard hand around using pure skill, and novice players can lose when they are dealt a good hand if their head is not in the game.
Common sense also plays a large role in winning at blackjack. It makes no sense to request another card when your cards are close to 21 (something like a 19 or 20).
To get the best of the dealer, many people employ a variety of strategies. They practice them until they perfect them. Here are a few of them:
