At online casinos, gamers either play for real money or they play for free. At land-based casinos, people can only play with real money. The overwhelming majority of gamers bet on the casino games they play. So, we thought it appropriate to talk about the best bets gamers can make both in a land-based casino and at an online casino such as the ones we at Slots Play Casinos have recommended.
Is Betting Different at a Land-based Casino versus an Online Casino?
There are actually a number of important differences as we will explain. For now, let us start at the craps table and the roulette wheel.
At a land-based casino, the most noise comes from these table games. Players are beseeching the wheel to land on their number or set of numbers while in craps, the players are rooting for the thrower either to make his or her point or fail to do so.
In short, when the roulette wheel starts to spin, the people around the table go just a bit crazy!
Online casinos cannot compete with the whooping and hollering that emanate from the roulette and craps games. But online casinos have many other tricks up their sleeve!
We believe that the ways online casinos increase the opportunity for gamers to make the best bet allows them to have fun playing.
Online Casinos Offer Gamers Many Chances to Make the Best Bet
Every casino game carries the house edge with it. The house edge in many casino games at land-based casinos is much higher than the house edge at good online casinos. Let’s go back to roulette to see how land-based casinos thwart gamers’ desire to make good bets.
There are Three Kinds of Roulette
Roulette is a fun table game that land-based casinos in the United States have turned into a gambling game. The least gamer-friendly variation of roulette is American Roulette. In contrast, the house edge in European Roulette is fully half the house edge in American Roulette.
The simple reason is that roulette is a table game and in order to play table games on land, you need tables! A roulette table takes up a lot of valuable floor space so most land-based casinos offer only American Roulette with its high house edge.
What Makes the House Edge so High in American Roulette?
There are 0 and 00 in American Roulette while there is only a single 0 in European Roulette. This “small” difference adds a lot to the house edge in American Roulette.
While few land-based casinos in the US offer European Roulette, most good online casinos offer both American and European Roulette.
What is the Best Bet in Roulette?
There are three so-called even money bets in roulette. Because of the zero, they are not truly even money bets but they come close to being so. These are red or black, odds or evens, and first half or second half of numbers.
These three bets all have the same odds as each other and, of all of the best in roulette, they have the best odds of winning.
What is the Third Form of Roulette?
That is French Roulette which has a rule that reduces the house edge to half the house edge in European Roulette. Sadly, far too few online casinos carry French Roulette which is one of the areas we hope to have influence on at online casinos: to offer French Roulette.
All of the other bets in roulette are weaker bets because the return to player for winning any other bet in roulette is less than the odds would indicate it should be.
Do Land-based Casinos Increase the House Edge in Any Other Casino Games?
A popular online casino game is video poker. All video poker games are based on five card draw poker. Since a video poker game is based on a simple deck of cards, land-based casinos simply reduced the amount of money gamers would win for a full house and a flush.
The “correct” way to offer video poker is to pay 9 units for a full house and 6 units for a flush. Many land-based casinos offer 8 for a full house and 5 for a flush. These are called 9-6 video poker and 8-5 video poker.
The house edge goes up dramatically when a land-based casino lowers its video poker games to 8-5 video poker.
Video Poker and Blackjack Have the Lowest House Edge
Some gamers play casino games for the challenge. Video poker and blackjack are games of skill that provide that challenge. This contrasts with playing slot machines which are entirely games of chance. The house edge in both video poker and blackjack is only 0.5%!
However, the house edge goes up several percentage points when a land-based casino changes the payout from 9-6 to 8-5.
Does the House Increase the House Edge in Blackjack as Well?
Of course, you have to keep in mind that the trick land-based casinos have to increase the house edge is rarely seen at online casinos. Land-based casinos might have changed the payout for blackjack from 3-2 to 6-5.
This change looks small and many land-based casino players simply accept it as a fact of life so they can play at land-based casinos! But it reduces the winning percentage for gamers by about 3-4%!
The very low house edge in video poker and blackjack are based on perfect play by gamers so it is really important to learn to recognize situations in these games in order to have the highest return to player rate!
Is There a Best Bet in All Casino Games?
The quick answer is no!
There is really no best bet in any of the games of chance. Slots games are by far the most popular of the games of chance. Other popular games of chance are bingo, keno, Fish Catch, Banana Jones, craps, roulette, and others.
As all casino games are gambling games at either land-based or online casinos, it really behooves gamers to learn what the best bet is in any game where the best bet is significant.
What are Some Interesting Best Bets?
- In keno, the house edge is quite high so the best bet is not to play!
- If you do play keno, the best bet is to choose only four numbers.
- In video poker, the best bet is to break up a winning pair in order to try for a Royal Flush if you were dealt four to the Royal Flush.
- In blackjack, there are many cases where the best bet is to hit even with 12 or more points.
- In blackjack, sometimes the best bet is to surrender.
- In baccarat, the best bet is always to bet on the dealer.
- In craps, the best bets are simply Come or Don’t Come.
- There are many strategic ways to play the seven cards in Pai Gow Poker. The best bet may be to break up a full house!
Sometimes the Best Bet is the Bet Not Made
This is a pet theme here at Slots Play Casinos. Here are a few non-bets that qualify as “best bets” in our opinion.
- Don’t play when you are tired.
- Don’t play when you have just eaten a big meal (time to rest). An apple is fine!
- Don’t play if you have drunk alcohol or are about to drink alcohol.
- Don’t play if you are not feeling well.
- Don’t play if you are distracted by work or home responsibilities.
- Don’t play with money that should be earmarked for other necessities.
- Don’t play using a betting system. They don’t work!
- Never make a side bet as the house edge in these bets is very high.
- The same applies to taking insurance in blackjack: the house edge in this bet is very high!
Let’s Go Over a Few Conclusions
Casino games are a great way to have fun playing! We all have a responsibility to seek out the best ways or best bets to increase the fun side of casino gaming. This applies both to land-based and online casinos but, as we have seen, land-based casinos have many ways to increase the house edge.
The best bet is often a way to reduce the house edge. Sometimes the best bet is to play in such a way as to enhance the fun of gaming. Setting time and money limits on gaming is one such way but it really only works at online casinos. No one can play for just a half an hour at a land-based casino having spent so much money just getting there.
European and French Roulette win hands down when compared to American Roulette.
In the games of skill the “best bet” is to study the best strategy which causes the best bet to often be counter-intuitive yet truly the best bet!
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