Saturday, June 11, 2011

Winning at Slots

I should preface this by saying there is no guaranteed way to win at slots. It’s a game of luck, but there are some simple strategies to help your chances. Some slots offer better odds than others. You can find this on the side of the machine in land-based casinos and online casinos are legally bound to advertise their payouts. Here you can learn about the right type of slot to play and how much to bet.

The most popular slots currently have five reels and multiple lines, along with a bonus feature. You can play the entire position of the reel rather than fixed lines like the old classic 3-reel slots. It’s more than just spinning a reel and hoping for the best. A 1-reel slot has 243 ways to play. Video slots are popular online because they have great graphics and a good story to the game. Realtime Gaming (RTG) has this with the Real Series and Rival Gaming has this with i-Slots.

Find slots with scatter features, because those have more ways to win. A double up bonus also helps because it’s the only bet in slots without a house edge. You are usually allowed for up to five bonus spins in a row. Always play the maximum bet on a slot so you can get the full jackpot, instead of just a percentage. If you can’t afford it, find a less expensive slot. Progressive jackpots are linked slots, sometimes from multiple affiliate online casinos, with up to millions of dollars up for grabs.

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Winning at Roulette

No matter what anyone tells you, roulette requires more luck than strategy. It’s sort of like craps where you need to know what bets have better odds. The strategy is in the betting. That’s it.

The casino game originated in the French Riviera and Monte Carlo for the wealthy but you can play it anywhere today. The goal is to guess the numbered pocket the ball will land in once the roulette wheel stops spinning. The wheel is shaped like a bowl and is three feet in diameter. The two most common types are American Roulette and European Roulette. American Roulette has 38 pockets (1-36, 0 and 00) and a 5.26% house advantage. European Roulette has 37 pockets (1-36 and 0) and a lower house advantage of 2.7%. You won’t find European Roulette in many land-based U.S. casinos, but you can find it online.

In both types of roulette, half the 1-36 numbers are red and half are black. The 0 and 00 are green. Each number has a box on the roulette layout, where you bet your chips. The dealer, also called the croupier, spins the wheel and offers the payouts after the spin. Your bet must be in before the dealer spins the wheel and calls out “no more bets.” Bets are still accepted shortly after the wheel begins spinning. Each player has their own colored chips and each table has minimum bets and limits.

The roulette layout has 48 boxes for red, black or green bets known as inside bets. There are 11 boxes on the outside for special bets such as red/black, high/low and even/odd. These are called outside bets.