February 8, 2024 by

What Are the Top-rated Casino Games?

This is just about the most subjective question we hear here at Slots Play Casinos.  One gamer’s top-rated casino games will be down on another gamer’s list!  Still, we feel that there is a lot to talk about in this vein.

So, let’s get to it!

Why Do People Play Online Casino Games?

Some people play simply to relax and unwind after they get home from work.  Work is quite stressful and slots, above all other games, provide the kind of relaxation many gamers want.

However, there are other games of chance that many gamers love!  Banana Jones comes quickly to mind.  This is a pure game of chance with a funny and delightful story line.  It is one of the most popular of all the games SpinLogic has developed.

Banana Jones is a spoof of the Indiana Jones movies.  It is also a take-off on Chutes and Ladders, a classic American board game.  The Banana Jones character looks a lot like the pudgy Michelin Man or the Pillsbury Dough Boy.  At the end of a game, if you have won some money, Banana Jones does a whoo hoo, whoo hoo in his friendly, high-pitched voice!

Altogether, Banana Jones is a great way to relax and unwind in the evening!

Craps and Roulette Are Also Games of Chance

Even though craps and roulette are games of chance, and gamers often are looking for a game of chance after work, these games play better at land-based casinos.  However, we never recommend that gamers spend hundreds of dollars to get to and stay at a land-based casino just to play craps or roulette.

Still, there is no denying that the whooping and hollering at the craps and roulette tables are a big attraction of players at land-based casinos.

Gamers can stick with the simplest bets in both craps and roulette.  However, there are many more complex bets.  For online casino gamers, craps and roulette are among the least popular.  The bets are confusing and gamers want to have an easy time playing.

Some Gamers Thrive on Mental Challenges

For these players, the games of skill are the top-rated casino games.  The most prominent games of skill at any good online casino are blackjack and video poker.

The online casinos that we here at Slots Play Casinos recommend have several variations of both video poker and blackjack.

Another reason a large cohort of gamers play blackjack and video poker is that these games have a return to player rate of about 99.5%!  Some video poker variations have a return to player rate that is actually slightly (very slightly) above 100%!

We need here to talk about the idea of a return to player rate.

In Slots, Volatility is a Lot More Important Than the Return to Player Rate

Volatility is mostly a parameter in slots.  Before we talk about volatility, we have to introduce the concept of the random number generator.

There is in all online games and in all games at a terminal in land-based casinos software called the random number generator that determines all outcomes.

The random number generator can be calibrated by the game provider in the factory according to the desired return to player rate the casino wants.  The online casinos that we recommend have a RTP of about 96-97% in slots.  The RTP at land-based casinos is quite a bit less since they need more revenues to pay their enormous operating costs.

Two Slots Might Have the Same Return to Player Rate but Wildly Different Volatility

Volatility is a term used in casinos to indicate how many players will share in the set RTP.  A slot with high volatility will divide al of the winnings among a relatively small number of players and a slot with low volatility will divide the winnings among a relatively high number of players.

When we talk about top rated slots, we have to include volatility and return to player rates.  As a result, we can say that in general slots at an online casino are better for gamers’ bankroll and overall enjoyment than slots at land-based casinos.

Gamers may enjoy a given slot but if the RTP and the volatility make that slot less attractive from the financial point of view, that gamer might choose a different slot to play.

Online casinos have so many slots with no waiting to play any of them that any gamer at an online casino can play as many slots as he or she chooses to play even in a short gaming session.

There is a Trick Involved in Blackjack and Video Poker

We spoke about volatility and the random number generator.  While the RNG also determines all outcomes in blackjack and video poker, these games have no rang of volatility.  If the return to player rate is 99.5% assuming the player makes the correct strategic and statistical decisions on every hand, then that is the RTP.

So, many land-based casinos have found another way to reduce the return to player rate in games with no volatility such as blackjack and video poker.  In blackjack, they have started to pay 6-5 for a blackjack instead of 3-2. This changes the RTP from about 99.5% to something closer to 90%

In video poker, they pay only 8-5 or even sometimes 7-5 for a full house and a flush as opposed to the standard 9-6 that all of our recommended online casinos pay.

So, What Constitutes a Top-rated Casino Game?

Here we will review what we have talked about so far:

  1. For the most part, it is an online casino game.  Craps and roulette may be exceptions but even they are not worth the cost of travel to a land-based casino.
  2. For gamers who simply want to relax, slots are good as are all games of chance.
  3. For people who relish a challenge, games of skill are excellent with blackjack and video poker the primary games of skill.
  4. In slots, low volatility may be better suited to an individual gamer than a slot with high volatility.
  5. In blackjack and video poker, online casinos recommended by Slots Play Casinos pay 3-2 for a blackjack and 9-6 for a full house and a flush.

Slots Play Casinos is Dedicated to Serving the Online Casino Gaming Public

This article is one of hundreds we have published that give gamers some insights into online casino gaming that they may not have had before.  Our motivation is to make online casino gaming as much fun and as entertaining as possible.

We review online casinos, games, and we have guides for How to Play or How to Win various games.

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David is our amateur economist and political philosopher, weather enthusiast, killer Sudoku fan, and best darn game analyst we've found.

In the twenty or so years since graduating college David has completely changed his gaming practices. Where once he played mostly video games with the occasional swing at blackjack at land-based casinos, David switched course and became a regular Sudoku player. David says that he likes the intellectual challenge of solving difficult problems.

Since he began playing Sudoku in earnest, David has ... [Read David Connor full bio]