Online Casino Games Quick Guide
If you have never spun the reels of a slot game in your entire life and feel a little overwhelmed by everything, you have come to the right place. In this quick guide, we are going to provide you with a brief overview of what an online casino is and what all the different games are.
Online Casino Games vs Regular Casinos
Those of you who have visited a real brick-and-mortar casino will know what to expect when it comes to the type of real money games you will find online. There are, however, many key differences between playing casino games online and playing casino games in the real world:
- Online casino games are easier to access and play
- There is a larger variety of games at online casinos
- Automated online casino games are faster
- Online, there is typically a higher return rate to the player for slots
- There are no physical constraints on the quantity of games
Although we could go on, these are the biggest differences between online casino games and their land-based counterparts.
Playing Real Money Online Casino Games
Most casinos — those that are any good, anyway — will give players an option to choose between either ‘demo’ or ‘real money’ versions of games.
Demo games are great for newcomers who want to test out games before staking any real money in the process. This is particularly useful when it comes to games of skill (e.g. blackjack) where you need knowledge as opposed to games of chance (e.g. roulette) where winnings come down to blind luck.
Nothing can replace the excitement of playing for real money, though. In time, newcomers graduate from playing demo games to playing the real thing for real money. To help you in that process, we are going to quickly look at some of the most popular online casino games.
Online Slots
Online slot games are some of the simplest online casino games you can play. They are also some of the most entertaining. The huge range and variety of online slots today means that there is something for everyone; you will never be short of gaming options.
Playing online slots is simply a case of choosing your per spin bet amount and spinning a reel to try and match certain symbols (known as ‘paylines’) to win real cash prizes.
Online Roulette
People have been spinning the roulette wheel for centuries. It is an extremely popular online casino game to play, with the live dealer version of online roulette being a firm favourite amongst players.
A roulette wheel consists of 32 numbered pockets alternating in red and black along with one (or two for American Roulette) green ‘zero’ pockets. Place your bet on single numbers, colours, or in groups and wait for the silver ball to land.
Online Video Poker
Video poker is one of the world’s oldest online casino games that has managed to retain its popularity to this very day. One of the reasons it is so popular is because it is one of the casino’s best value games.
When playing video poker, you are dealt five cards face up and can exchange as many as these as you want in an attempt to form winning combinations, the most famous being a Royal Flush.
There are Thousands of Different Games
Slots, roulette, and video poker are three of the most popular online casino games… but they are not the be all and end all. There are thousands of different online casino games and game variants that you can choose from—it is virtually impossible to play them all.
If you are just starting out and are not sure where to get started, our advice is to just pick a popular casino with good reviews and dive right in. With online casino games, the only way to learn is through doing. You can read all the guides and theory that you want, however, you will only get good through practice.
Remember that if you don’t want to stake any of your real money and risk losing it, most leading casinos offer a free-to-play ‘demo’ version where you can trial most games without having to put any real money down.