Whether you are gambling in the lights of Vegas or at home with a coffee and your computer casinos, the games they offer are very similar. All games offered will hold a house advantage. This means that in the long run, the house will always win. The house edge works like this – if you flip a coin, the odds of it coming up heads is 50%. So if you bet $1 on it you would expect to get $2 back. However, a casino will pay you less than this, maybe $0.95. In this case the house edge is 2.5%.
The house edge is the difference between the true odds and the odds that the casino offers. Each game will offer different bets and each bet will offer different odds and a different house edge. Obviously if you fancy leaving the casino with more money than you arrived with then it is advisable to stick with the bets that offer the lowest house edge. It is possible to come on top if you stick to strategy, have a bit of luck on your side and, of course, pick the right bets to take. Below is a list of the 10 games and 10 bets that offer you the best chance of winning.
1. Poker – This is the obvious one. Firstly, poker has a large element of skill in it which, if you are good, will greatly swing the odds in your favor. However, more importantly you are not playing the house. Poker is played against other players not the house and hence the house has no edge. They make their money from taking a percentage of the pot from each round.
2. Video poker – Video poker is a game that involves a large degree of skill and hence you can improve your chances by practicing and learning how to play correctly. Most machines give the house an advantage of less than 0.5% and some even have a 0% house advantage. This will obviously vary from machine to machine so check before you play.
3. Baccarat – Baccarat offers two bets with a low house advantage but the best one is the bet on the banker. A bet on the banker offers a house advantage of just 1.06%.
4. Baccarat – A bet on the player gives the house a 1.24% advantage. The player and the banker are the bets to take NEVER bet on the tie, it’s know as the ’suckers bet’ as the house edge is 14.4%
5. Craps – Craps offer several good bets that are worth looking at. Betting on the 6 or the 8 is a good bet with a house advantage of 1.52%. Aside from the 7 the 6 and the 8 are the most likely numbers to be rolled.
6. Craps – Craps pass line/don’t pass line bets offer good value. The pass line bet offers a house edge of 1.41% and the don’t pass line bet offers a house edge of just 1.14%. However, with the don’t pass line bet you are betting against the shooter which may not go down well at a land casino as you will be winning when everyone else is losing.
7. Craps – Odds bets. These bets offer a house edge of zero. All bets of this type are paid at true the true odds.
8. Blackjack – If you follow ‘basic strategy’ for blackjack then the house edge is reduced to less than 1%. This will vary slightly depending on how many decks the casino is using. Basic strategy involves basing your betting on a strict set of mathematical rules.
9. Blackjack – Card counting. First up it’s important to note that card counting is NOT illegal. However it is frowned upon by casinos and if you’re not careful then you may be asked to leave or they will simply start shuffling the deck after every hand. In online casinos the deck IS shuffled after every hand so you cannot count cards online. By learning to count cards you can actually give yourself a 2% edge over the house.
10. Pai Gow – When playing Pai Gow you can chose to act as the banker. You will pay a 5% commission to the house if you win (this is not the same as the house edge). You will win the money of players you beat so if you have the skills you can come out on top.
Many people will claim that games are fixed and online casinos are a scam. This is nonsense. Casino games are not fixed, nor do they need to be fixed. The house, and every casino game, will always give the house an advantage. It is possible to come out on top and many people do but you do have to have a little bit of luck on your side.
For more information on gambling have a look here roulette systems and baccarat systems. David is a 28 year old man who maintains a successful gambling and poker video tutorials website.