There is lots of myth out there about how casino games work. While some people think all casinos are cheats, others do believe they have a chance to win big and this is why they gamble in the first place. But how do different casino games work and which ones give players the best chance to win?
We asked Péter Deli, a Hungarian online casino expert, to share his insights with us about how casino games operate. Péter has gambled all his life and you can read more about him by clicking here.
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How Does Gambling Work?
Once, I have heard somebody say that lotto winnings should be given to the needy instead of making one lucky punter rich. This person didn’t realize that the prize money came from the millions of people who bought lottery tickets and if there was no prize nobody would have bought the tickets.
In a casino environment, the basic idea is the same. Many people have to lose so that lucky ones can win. Apart from that, the casino will have to get a cut as they don’t operate for charity. Be it a brick-and-mortar casino or an online casino in Hungary, such as bwin, they will want to make a profit.
The casino’s cut is called the house edge. This is the percentage of the total wagers the casino keeps in the long run. So, if the house edge is 10%, it means that over millions of games the casino would keep 10% of the total wagers and pay out 90%. With different game categories, the house edge can be very different. There are three categories of casino games:
- Table games: games like roulette, blackjack, poker or baccarat have smaller house edges so they are not the most profitable games for the casino. If you know what bets give you the best odds you can minimize the house edge and have the best chances of winning in the short run. Statistically in the long run you will still lose though.
- Machine games: this is the most popular category of games. It includes video slots and video poker for instance. Slot machines come with a higher house edge and they pay out less frequently than table games. Video poker is actually the casino game with the lowest house edge.
- Novelty games: lottery-type games like keno or bingo will have the highest house edge. The lucrative side of these games is that with little wager you still have a chance to win a very large sum of money. Hungarians love to play the lottery. The popular ötöslottó sells an average 3.3 million tickets per week but when the prize is up this number can reach 5 million so practically every second Hungarian will buy a ticket.
How Do Slot Machines Work?
The one-armed robber is by far the most popular form of gambling, be it online or offline. This is the type of game that most gamblers enjoy the most and these machines generate most of the revenue for casinos.
Slot machines might have reasonable RTPs which stands for a return to player. Some of them could pay back 98% of what they take but the reason why most slot lovers will lose all their money is that this game has very high volatility. So, hundreds of people will have to lose their money before somebody can win a large sum.
When you compare this to roulette where let’s say, John bets on red and James bets on black, they each have almost 50% chance of winning (unless the ball lands on the green 0 field which has the possibility of 1 to 37). If they keep making the same bets, statistically out of 37 spins John will win 18 times, James will win 18 times and the casino will win once.
Online slot machines have a random number generator system which is truly fair and random. Using this generator ensures that nobody manipulates the games and each spin is randomly generated, not depending on previous spins and therefore cannot be predicted.
Conclusion
Casino games work on the principle that the casino makes a profit, some lucky punters win and most unlucky ones lose. Choosing the type of game can increase your chances of winning but usually the higher the risk the more you can win and vice versa.
If you are interested in even more entertainment-related articles and information from us here at Bit Rebels, then we have a lot to choose from.
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