Casino Games a Look Into Slots, Blackjack, Video Poker and More

Once you have signed up with an online casino and received the bonus from them, the major concern on your mind is going to involve the actual games you are going to play.

Some of the games may be presented differently, depending on the software provider of the casino, but essentially the games are operated in the same way. Unless you are playing in some wild variation, the rules are similar, and the payouts are similar as well. Therefore, it is not inappropriate for us to describe each of the more popular games in their basic form, making note of certain variations that are pertinent.

Let's take a look at some of those games.

Slots

There is certainly little wonder as to why slots are a popular game for people in the land-based casino environment. They allow a player to challenge the casino without interaction with anyone else, thus virtually eliminating the "intimidation" factor. Needless to say, slots are also a very easy thing to learn. All you have to do is place a bet and click a button and you are playing.

There may be some aspects of it that are a little more complicated, such as understanding the concept of multiple paylines, wild symbols, scatters, bonus games and the like, but for the most part, slot games offer the opportunity to play without having to study complicated strategies or rules.

What's great about paying slots in an online casino is that you can literally play any kind of slot game you want, without leaving your seat. Some people like to engage in the "old-fashioned" slot game, which in this case would be called a "classic" game, consisting of three reels and the traditional symbols (Bars, Sevens, various fruit, etc.). For a little more adventure, folks turn to video slots in which characters that are consistent with the theme are the symbols that occupy the reels. And for the chance to win a lot for investing a little, progressive jackpot games can be found as well. Hit one of those and you'll be a player for life!

Blackjack

Blackjack in the online casino environment is, visually speaking, not that much different from the kind of game you'll find if you visited a land-based casino. There are certain differences, obviously.

You will be, for the most part, playing in a head-up game with the casino when you're online, except in those cases where you are in a "multi-player" game. Usually you'll be able to play more than one hand, and when you are online you will have the buttons that control all the options in front of you, whether they are hit, stand, double, split or insurance.

When you are in the online casino, the deck, in almost all cases, is shuffled at the conclusion of each round. That is different than with many land-based casinos, although with the advent of automatic shufflers, it is bearing more and more of a resemblance.

Players who know Basic Strategy should be in a position where they can play something close to a break-even game with the house over the long run, and that is a good thing. In case you are not aware, the objective of blackjack is to get closer to the total of 21 than the house, or to stay under 21 while the house exceeds it.

Video Poker

Video poker is one of those games that is familiar to a lot of players from the home environment, because many people who are inclined toward gaming have played a simple game of five-card draw with their friends.

One of the differences in the online casino, of course, is that you are not playing against other players, but instead against the house. What is also worth noting is that the interface you'll encounter on a video poker game in an online casino is very similar to that which you would find in a land-based casino operation.

As a genre of games, video poker is much like slots in that there is not necessarily a "generic" version of it. Perhaps the closest thing to what you might remember from the past is the game of Jacks or Better, but there are a host of variations that come as standard components of any casino's video poker "menu." Among these are Joker Poker, Aces and Faces, Deuces Wild, Double Bonus Poker and more. There are some software providers that allow you to play more than one hand at once; in fact, much more than one hand. In fact, Microgaming offers video poker games that can accommodates 100 hands at once.

Roulette

Roulette is a great game which, like slots, will allow you to make it as simple or as complicated as you want to make it. It is a game where the outcome isn't necessarily influenced by pure skill as some games might be, but you still want to be able to master the various bets and how to make them.

The first thing you need to know is that there are two principal types of roulette. There is the "American" version, in which the roulette wheel has both a zero (0) and double zero (00) on it, or the "European" version, where the wheel has just the zero (0). This has a certain bearing on the odds, which makes the European game a bit more favorable.

The slots in the wheel, aside from the zeroes, are numbered one (1) through 36. You can bet on individual numbers, which will pay off at 35-to-1 if they win. There are also options to wager on even money propositions that include the "Red or Black" numbers, the "Even or Odd" numbers, or the "High or Low" numbers, as the numbers of 1-36 are split into two groups of 18 each. The layout also allows for a number of bets that require more extensive explanation, and involve placing the wager on more than a single number at once.

Craps

Craps is a game that has long been associated with the excitement of a land-based casino. It is game that, as played in that environment, is more communal than any other game, and it is a rare game in that you can actually be playing it and be rooting for another player to have success.

Those players are known as "shooters," and you can bet on that shooter (who is throwing the dice) for quite a while, and wind up a big winner. If you are playing this game online, however, you will see a different dynamic, and unless it is a multi-player experience, it is you against the house.

The rules that are employed in craps are probably too involved for most players to sit down and learn, and that may be why it is considered more of a "hardcore" game than many others. There are many different kinds of bets, and many terms that could be confusing for casual players, but in a very condensed explanation we can tell you that this is a dice game, and understanding the odds of each combination being thrown, not to mention the odds of certain combinations being thrown before others, is essential.

It is a game where you can reduce your disadvantage to a considerable extent by making the most mathematically-sound plays, and hurt yourself by playing badly. It is best undertaken by reading the rules and memorizing the percentages. Once you get into the online casino environment, you can play at whatever pace is comfortable.

Baccarat

Baccarat is a game that, like roulette, is associated with a certain amount of glamour. And like roulette, it is a game that is much more accessible than its image has portrayed it to be. The emergence of online casinos has certainly helped make that possible.

Still, baccarat tends to have higher minimums and maximums than a lot of other casinos do. It is not a game that is generally enjoyed by the masses, and it is a strange game in that, even though it is a card game, there is no playing strategy to be employed; instead, it is all about which side you are going to bet on.

In baccarat you'll encounter a game where there is a Player hand and a Banker hand. Your decision will be whether to bet on either of these hands, or bet on a tie. Each of those hands gets two cards, and the objective is to have your money on the hand that comes closer to nine (9). This is not as simple as it appears. When the total of a hand goes over nine, only the second digit of the total is considered. In other words, with a two-card total of 12, the total is considered to be two (2).

Once the process of hitting (if necessary) to either of these hands is complete, the winning hand is determined. A bet on either the Player or Banker pays even money, although players who placed winning wagers on the Banker have to pay a 5% commission to the house. Ties pay 8-to-1.

Keno

Keno is a very easy game to learn, and it is closely associated with elderly people in a land-based casino environment. That is because it is generally played at a very relaxed pace. Well, online keno has changed some of that. For one thing, it brings great casino software before a younger audience, and even more significantly, it can really speed up the pace of the game, to the point where it can resemble a high-speed lottery. There does not have to be any time between games, if you don't want there to be.

Keno, of course, works with a board that has numbers that go from 1 to 80. You are going to choose fifteen different numbers, and instead of having a crayon to mark them, you mark them through your keyboard, in which case they are marked by color. The computer program then selects twenty numbers and places them on the big board. Your objective is to match as many of those numbers as you can with the numbers you have already designated. Your winnings are determined by the pay table, which is prominently displayed. The technology makes things much more user-friendly than they would be in a land-based casino.