When you play casino games, the gaming action is a significant part of the experience. That’s why not everyone cares so much whether they win or lose – they just want to have a good time playing at instant play online casinos. However, if you play your cards right, you can do both – have a fun-filled gaming experience at instant play casinos AND win cash prizes.
Regardless of whether you’re heading to a land-based casino venue or getting ready to play casino games online, check out some of the secrets that will help you walk away with winning payouts from your gaming adventures.
Layout
Check out the casino layout before you pick your chosen game or make a deposit. The casino can feel disorienting. If it’s a land-based casino you won’t see any windows or clocks that may distract you and getting from one game to the next will involve walking through a labyrinth pattern that makes it easy for you to wander off and play different games than those that you had originally intended to play or play more games than you had planned for.
At the online casino, the large selection of games, bonuses and banking options are equally as distracting, though when you’re online, instead of wandering from one area to the other on foot you’ll be clicking on one webpage after the other, trying to decide what to play and for how long.
Whichever type of casino you are visiting……spend some time exploring the casino before you start playing. Learn where everything is located and make your decisions about what you want to play and for how long before you place your first deposit. Learning the “lay of the land” will be invaluable as you move ahead to play intelligently and with foresight.
Water
Drink water. When you’re at a land-based casino, the casino pushes drinks on customers because the tipsier you become, the more you bet and play. When you’re playing at home, it’s easy to relax on your couch with an alcoholic drink or two but the end result is the same as if you were in a Las Vegas casino – your inhibitions are relaxed and you wager and play more than, perhaps, you would otherwise.
For that reason, keep a glass or bottle of water nearby and refuse alcoholic drinks until you’re done with your gaming event. Then, settle back and sip to your heart’s content!
Time
Keep track of time. It’s easy to lose track of time while you’re playing which puts you at risk of playing more than you might do otherwise. Also, it’s a known fact that the longer you play, the more the odds move in the house’s favor. So set a time limit and stick to it. If you’ve won money, stick it in a safe place for another day. Never go over your budget.
Remember, it’s in the casino’s interest to keep you playing for as long as possible. That means, even if you’re winning, the casino wants you to keep playing because that way they have more of a chance of getting their money back.
That’s why you start seeing the offers coming at you – a free room or meal at a land-based casino or special bonus offers at online casinos. You can beat the casino at its own game by cashing out and walking away at a pre-determined time, win or lose.
Budget
Speaking of budgets, if you want to make sure that you don’t lose more money than you can afford to lose and maybe even walk away with more money than you came with, set a budget. Look at your financial situation realistically and budget the amount of money that you can dedicate to gaming entertainment. If you end up winning, you’ll have more money with which to play.
If you go through a losing streak, you will only have lost what you can afford to lose and no more. Some people even open a separate debit card account for their gaming activities to ensure that they don’t overspend on their gaming entertainment.
Which Game?
Now we come to the nitty gritty. Which games give you the best opportunities to achieve wins? Before we review the games, it must be said that ultimately, you should play the games that you like. If you’re playing a game that you aren’t particularly enamored with, you won’t be as attentive and won’t be competing at your best.
But there are some basic rules when it comes to choosing a game that gives you a better chance to win.
- Don’t be drawn in by the flashy games with the bright lights, the dazzling colors and the alluring sound track. Those are generally the games that have the lowest Return to Player – meaning, those are the games that you’ll find hardest to win.
Focus on playing the more sedate games because there, the wins might come slower but they are steadier. Also, check the ratings of the various games to find which games give you statistically higher odds. - If you’re looking for big payouts, place bigger bets. As mentioned, the casino odds work in the house’s favor so by placing fewer odds you have a higher chances of winning those bets.
- If you’re a decent poker player, choose casinos that focus on the big wins. If you can identify a casino where many of the poker competitors are novices (or better yet, drunk), you are on your way to scoring.
- With craps, focus on “come” or “pass line” bets which deliver slower, steadier wins.
- In a baccarat game, your best bet is to side with the banker. Since the banker has the highest odds of winning, piggy-backing onto those odds boosts your odds as well.
- For roulette games, the best bets are “en prison” or “surrender” wagers in which even-money bets move on to the next spin if the ball lands on “0.” Your bet isn’t lost and you cut the house’s odds in half which gives you a boost in your quest to win the spin of the wheel. If you are playing at a casino where en prison or surrender bets aren’t offered, find one where these bets are taken.
- On a slot machine, place the highest bet on the highest number of paylines possible. Your return skyrockets from 86% to 96%. Also, don’t fall for the fallacy that after a number of losing spins, you’ll be “due” for a win. No such thing. Each spin is unique and has the same number of chances of hitting a winning combination as the next.
