7 Easiest Casino Games to Learn and Master
Any gambler who has been in the game for a while will tell you that there are two methods to win out on top in any casino game: Increasing the size of your bankroll through genuine victories while limiting your losses to the minimum possible money of that bankroll. Your time is equivalent to your money, and vice versa; the less money you lose over the course of an extended period of time, the more you will profit from a win.
Gamblers who are any good are aware that they are competing against more than just Milwaukee Slim, the guy sitting opposite from them who is wearing mirrored sunglasses and a sweatshirt that says “I Heart Cheese.”
The person who will be receiving major amounts of your bankroll does not require eyewear such as sunglasses or distracting athletic apparel. Okay, I won’t drop any more hints: Your adversary in this game is the casino itself, and the percentage of winnings that the casino deducts from your wagers can come as a complete surprise to you.
In every game that it offers, the casino, sometimes known as “the house,” has an inherent edge over the players. These games provide the house with an advantage that is consistent throughout casinos due to the fact that the house edge is based on the rules of the game as well as the pay tables for that particular game.
Gamblers need to look for games that are simple to understand and get good at if they want to reduce the house advantage. I’ll break it all down a little bit more, and then I’ll get to the seven simple casino games that you ought to be focusing on.
What Are the Elements That Make a Casino Game Simple to Win?
Although the majority of casino games are straightforward in terms of how to learn and play them, only a select number are straightforward in terms of how to win at them. Many of these games that are “easy to win” are really games that give you the fewest disadvantages while you are playing them.
“Handicap me?” you ask. “How?”
Whether or not you are aware of it, you are giving money to the casino every time you pull a lever or click a button that says “deal.” These unseen costs are referred to as “the house advantage” (or house edge), and they are included into every game in which you have the opportunity to gamble.
If you take a look at the chart, you’ll notice that Return to Player, often known as RTP, is another means of showing the house edge, but it does it from the player’s point of view.
Now, very few games are played against other players in today’s society. Gamblers compete against the casino itself, using their talents to try to win. They are right when they claim that the house usually comes out on top.
The house advantage is the percentage of each wager that the casino anticipates maintaining ownership of over the long term. In addition, it does not take into account your level of expertise (or lack thereof) in playing that particular game. No. The house always has an advantage, regardless of how long you’ve been playing the game or where you got your information on how to play (e.g., Wikipedia this morning).
I’m not going to waste your time by telling you which of these games are simple to win. If this is the first time you’ve ever heard of Sic Bo, my statement that poker is an easy game to win while Sic Bo means absolutely nothing to you is accurate. However, your skill level will change depending on the game you play.
How the House Edge Is Calculated?
The difference between the true odds of something happening and the odds at which the house will payout for a win are referred to as payout odds, and this difference is the source of the house edge in almost all games. The house edge is derived from the difference between the true odds of something happening and the odds at which the house will payout for a win.
For instance, a common wager in the game of craps is called “Any Seven.” This bet is placed on the proposition that the shooter will roll a seven (comprised of a 2-5, 3-4, or 6-1). The casino normally pays out at a rate of 4-1 at craps, despite the fact that the odds of rolling a seven are 5-1. A “Bet Any Seven” wager gives the house a 16.67 percent edge over the bettor.
When it comes to slot machines and other digital or electro-mechanical gambling devices, casinos—as well as knowledgeable players—look at the house advantage as RTP (Return to Player), which is simply the total amount of money paid out over a specific number of games in comparison to the total amount of money wagered on that game during that same time frame. This concept applies both in the real world and on the Internet.
R EXAMPLE
Imagine that you have a thousand bucks in your bankroll at the moment. You make the decision to place a bet of one dollar on a slot machine for one thousand spins. If, after one thousand spins, you have $900 in your account, the RTP of that slot machine is considered to be 90 percent.
The majority of casino games have pretty high RTPs, and the primary reason for this is that they do not take all of your money at once. This encourages you to keep playing. You are so unaware of the fact that you are continuing to lose that you. You’ve just been going through a brief dry spell, but things are going to start looking up for you very soon. Sure.
If the total RTP for all of your games is ninety percent, then you have a ten percent return on your money. You are making that 10 percent on the money that belongs to somebody else.
For the sake of this discussion, you and I will only consider a casino game to be “simple to win” if it does not place a significant disadvantage on our gameplay by way of excessive house edges.
How lofty is a lofty height? Look at the entry for Keno on the chart that is located above. Wow, a house edge of anything from 20 to 40 percent is rather substantial. “Put on your oxygen mask as soon as it falls from the overhead compartment,” the flight attendant instructed everyone.
Regardless of whether you put more stock in the return to player percentage or the house edge, you need to be aware of the percentage of your winnings that the casino will keep.
It has come to my attention that players frequently utilize the term “house edge.” Perhaps they do so because it alludes to the “we versus them” dynamic that exists inside casino gaming.
On the other hand, casinos utilize something called Return to Player, which reveals what they are most concerned with. Kinda.
Now that you are familiar with the factors that contribute to the simplicity of a casino game, as well as the distinct advantages enjoyed by the casino, it is time to discuss the games that are the least difficult to play in casinos. Let’s begin with video poker as our first game and work our way down the list from there.
Video Poker
Because it normally has one of the lowest house edges in the gaming world—0.46 percent on average—video poker is included on every list of simple casino games that allow players to win money. This is true whether the game is played online or at a physical establishment. There are various variations of video poker games in which the house edge is actually in the player’s favor.
You got that correctly. If you are familiar with the rules for playing five-card draw poker, then you are ready to take on the internet world and compete for dominance or a few more dollars.
When it comes to winning at video poker, one of the most important things you can do is check that the machine you are using has the appropriate pay table. If you want to discover a suitable table to play video poker online, you may consult our list of the finest tables to use as a resource.
After that, you should do a self-evaluation to determine which decisions during the play were the most beneficial to you.
The secret to achieving flawless play and a house edge that is lower than one is to make all of your decisions on which cards to keep and which cards to discard with each and every hand.
This is far simpler to do than it first appears, mostly due to the fact that there are only a certain amount of decisions to be made in each and every conceivable hand. However, you must be aware of which of these options is the best one to choose in each circumstance.
Texas Holdem
Don’t get me wrong—I’m not saying that Texas Hold ’em is the most difficult game to win or the most difficult game to understand. In point of fact, if you want to improve your poker skills, I strongly suggest that you check out this guide on playing Texas Hold ’em. However, if you understand how to play without letting your emotions get in the way and pay attention to the odds, it does provide a lot of opportunities for you to win.
Make sure that you are not giving the house an excessively large portion of your winnings when you have a hand that wins.
Table card games in which players compete against one another for money almost always have a relatively modest advantage for the house. Because it is not based on the difference between the genuine odds and the payout odds, it cannot be considered an “advantage.”
Every Texas hold ’em game that makes it to the flip will result in the house taking a percentage of the pot as their cut. At the turn or the river, certain casinos may additionally deduct a certain percentage of the total pot. This particular cut is known as the rake.
Tournaments of poker are a completely different beast. The house collects its rake, which is a percentage of the buy-in (and re-buy) price, at the beginning of the tournament because the chips that are utilized in the game have no actual value.
TOP TIP
Because the percentages at each casino are unique, it is important to familiarize oneself with them before playing poker. If you are not aware of the specific percentages, you run the risk of playing a poker game that is neither lucrative nor rewarding at all.
Baccarat
The variant of baccarat played at casinos in the United States is called mini-baccarat, but regardless of whether the version is played, the game provides the finest possibilities to prevent losing money to the house.
And contrary to what may be inferred from watching so many James Bond films, the game of baccarat is actually rather straightforward and easy to pick up and play. The few rules that it does have are all set in stone and unchangeable.
Both the player and the dealer, who is referred to as the bank, are handed cards while attempting to reach a score of nine points. They are, on the other hand, not participating in the game but instead watching attentively as the cards are dealt, and the result is announced.
You have the option of betting on the player, the bank, or a draw when participating in this game. The house has a smaller advantage with player wagers than it does over bank wagers. What do you think? Baccarat is a game that you are now familiar with, having just finished learning how to play.
The game of baccarat is consistently ranked first on any list of simple casino table games to master.
Do you want some guidance? You should always bet on the bank and never on the tie. There is a chance that the bank will have a greater rate of success than the player, which may win to compensate for the fact that the house’s advantage is bigger when the bank wins.
And ties, which typically pay 8-1, give the house an excessive advantage over the player.
You may place a large number of side bets, but the returns on all of them will not be to your advantage, and the number of these bets varies depending on the casino. Return as much as you can about them, and only then should you go back to betting on the bank.
Blackjack (Video and Otherwise)
If you are seeking simple casino games that can be played online, you will have a difficult time finding a game that is either simpler or more generous in RTP than blackjack. The advantage enjoyed by the house in a game of blackjack is unaffected by the size of the bets placed or by the success or failure rates of the other players sitting at the same table.
This is due to the fact that the real house edge in blackjack is extremely low, coming in at 0.5 percent. That’s correct—one-half of one percent of the total.
It is important to keep in mind that the relatively low house advantage can vary significantly from one casino to another and even from one table to another within a single casino. Why? Because the percentage of winnings retained by the house varies not only with the number of decks utilized but also with the kind of blackjack being played, be it American or European.
FOR EXAMPLE
In the American variant of blackjack, the dealer is dealt two cards, one of which is dealt face up and the other of which is dealt face down. The dealer takes a quick glance at his hole card to determine whether or not the card that is now face-up is an ace. If he uncovers a card with a value of ten, the game is ended, and all of the players are eliminated.
In contrast, the hole card of the dealer in the European form of blackjack is not revealed until after all of the players have completed their hands, and the game has come to a conclusion. The way in which hands are played is drastically altered as a result of this alteration.
In general, though, blackjack has one of the smallest advantages for the house of any casino game, whether it be online or offline. If that’s the case, how does the casino make any money off of the game of blackjack? Simple. This 0.5 percent edge for the house assumes that every play is played perfectly. You will only lose fifty cents out of every one hundred dollars that you wager in the long run if you play every hand how it’s supposed to be played.
However, if you’ve ever sat at a blackjack table and observed other players for any length of time, you’ll realize that excellent play is not a talent that can be readily acquired or utilized.
Buying insurance in the American version of blackjack could appear like it’s making the most of a (possibly) terrible hand, but it’s really a losing proposition in the long term. By the way, this strategy might look like it’s making the best of a bad situation.
Craps
The amount of possible wagers in craps is more than in any other table game, which might make it more difficult to understand for beginners. And the benefit of the house varies significantly between each of the different bets. Craps, on the other hand, might have the smallest house advantage of all the games, coming in at less than half of one percent, depending on the casino.
The key is to bet just on the line that says “Pass” or “Don’t Pass,” and nothing else. At that point, you come face to face with the astonishingly narrow edge of the house.
The difficulty is that nobody can sit at a table in the middle of a group of eager individuals while they shout their predictions for the results of a straightforward game using two dice. You have no choice but to participate in one of those prop bets, such as the Hardway.
A wager known as a hardway is placed on the bet of the shooter rolling a pair of twos, threes, fours, or fives before rolling a seven. When placing a hardway bet, the house has an advantage that can vary anywhere from 9.09 percent (pair of threes or fours) to 11.11 percent (pair of twos or fives).
My Texas Instrument TI-84 Plus had to work on the math for a while, but in the end, it demonstrated for me what I already had a hunch about: a house advantage of 9 percent was far more than a house advantage of 0.5 percent. That wraps up our discussion. The debate on this topic is over.
Roulette
As I said earlier, the house edge in roulette varies significantly depending on the kind of game that is being played. The lowest level of casino influence on your winnings may be found in European roulette, sometimes known as “one-zero” roulette and featuring a total of 37 numbers. 2.70 percent.
The house advantage in the American version, known as double zero (which has a total of 38 digits), is doubled to 5.26 percent.
Therefore, the house edge in American roulette is the same regardless of whether you play it in Atlantic City, Las Vegas, the basement of your neighbor, the internet, or any other location. When playing with an American roulette wheel, which has a total of 38 slots, the house has a 5.26 percent edge over the player.
If you enjoy playing roulette, you should always search for the European variation of the game.
Online Slots That Are Simple to Win At
The Mega Joker slot machine from NetEnt and the Ugga Bugga slot machine from Playtech are widely considered to be the two best online slot machines. Both have an RTP of 99 percent, making them among the most lucrative payout options available in the slots genre.
One thing to keep in mind in relation to online slots is that, unlike their land-based counterparts, which often have a fixed house advantage (or, alternatively, a fixed return-to-player percentage), online slots offer a far greater degree of player control over the RTP.
There are several online slots producers that provide their games with varied levels of RTP that are accessible. This provides the online casino with the opportunity to offer slots that pay out less than the payouts that may be offered by rivals’ versions of the same game. Alternately, they might decide to pay out a larger sum. Take a guess as to which one they like more.
It just so happens that several jurisdictions that issue licenses for online casinos, including the United Kingdom, mandate that the RTP of each hosted slot machine is shown prominently on the websites of those casinos that hold those licenses.
If you enjoy playing slot machines, it is important to check that your preferred game has a return-to-player percentage that is as high as possible.
If it were simple, then anybody and everyone could do it.
If there were casino games that were truly simple and anyone could win them, then Las Vegas, Monte Carlo, and other similar places would just be sleepy little rest stops on the way to more significant destinations.
Additionally, the multibillion-dollar online casino sector would not be around.
KEY POINT
However, the ones that I have mentioned above are the ones that are most likely to result in wins for you or, at the least, take the smallest amount of your bankroll as “house advantage.”
And if you’re searching for simple casino games that you can play from the comfort of your own home, you can rest certain that you’ll be interacting with a legitimate business when you visit one of our recommended online casinos.
