How to Start in Online Casino
Do you think that playing in online casinos is as easy as pressing the button and waiting for the WIN that changes your life? I agree that it's a nice idea, but in reality, it's a little more complex than that. The more you care about your money the more wrong you are. The first important step is to choose the most suitable online casino for you. Choosing a casino randomly by clicking the first advert which pop’s up on your smartphone, laptop, or PC isn’t the best idea. Actually, it's generally a very bad idea. Read the rest of this page and find out why.
Although choosing an online casino seems easy, it's not as easy as you'd expect.
The first thing to consider is that the casino must accept players from your country. With growing restrictions and regulations, some good online casinos have withdrawn from many countries leaving residents with a limited choice.
Even more important is to pick a casino with a PERFECT REPUTATION. Even among the big brands, there are some operators who will look for any excuse not to pay you if you win more than a few hundred dollars. The casino has your money in their accounts and not vice versa, which gives them a clear advantage in case of any disputes between them and their players.
But there is much more to consider: favorite games, payment methods, financial strength (especially if you are highroller), customer support, bonuses and so on…
The times when terms and conditions around casino bonuses were CRYSTAL CLEAR are gone. The reason is that casinos have to somehow protect themselves from the bonus hunters. These guys go from casino to casino looking for any crack in the bonus terms and conditions they can exploit to get an advantage.
And casinos of course need to make money so they try to protect themselves with more and more complicated bonus conditions. That is of course a legitimate way of doing business, but those bonus conditions are sometimes so damn complicated that even I (with all my background and experience) sometimes struggle to clearly understand them.
The downside to these policies is that they often hit innocent casual players who are just trying to get a little extra boost to their bankroll, and may not even have heard of bonus whoring.
The majority of casino games are based purely on luck. Some of them like Blackjack or Video poker have a skill aspect, where playing with the optimum strategy can increase your chances of winning , but none of them allows players to win over the casino in the longer term.
You should accept the fact that the whole casino business is based on making money from players, and not the other way around.
As the gaming industry becomes more mature, finding a crack which allows you to beat the house is more and more difficult. And the "cracks" are more risky.
You should always be aware of "beat the casino" scams. If you find a bulletproof guide on how to beat the casino somewhere on the internet, be extremely careful. The owner of that website is very likely running a revenue share partnership with the casinos and the proposed strategies won’t work in real world. Perfect examples of these are all "Double your bet on roulette" and other similar websites.
Once you accept that long term statistics will always play against you in a casino, you can start learning how to enjoy casino games and how to give your luck a chance.
You may be surprised, but even in the games of chance you can dramatically increase your chance to win by using the right long-term strategy. To find out more read my article: Gambling strategies math essentials: Learn about payout percentage and volatility.
There are dozens of different casino games and each of them has many variations. Analyzing each of them in detail would be a lifetime task (the Wizard of Odds has actually done that).
As most players play only few of them, me and my team have decided to focus only on the most important and popular ones. My goal is to show you guides, strategies based on common sense and computer simulations and wherever possible even push the knowledge a little further.
To prevent the first one, you have to realize that when you play online, you are dealing with a company which resides thousands of kilometers from you. You don’t know those guys. The smaller the casino you are dealing with, the more paranoid you should be about playing in it.
The basics rules of thumb are:
Regarding the issues of problematic gambling...
Gambling should be fun. Gambling can bring players some excitement into their lives and there are many healthy ways to enjoy gambling.
But for many players gambling has become a nightmare. There aren’t many ways how to lose your fortune in one night but gambling, sadly, is one of them. Know the basic gambling rules and know when to stop. If it might be in your nature to become addicted, the best advice is to never even start.
Choose the best online casino for you
Although choosing an online casino seems easy, it's not as easy as you'd expect.
The first thing to consider is that the casino must accept players from your country. With growing restrictions and regulations, some good online casinos have withdrawn from many countries leaving residents with a limited choice.
Even more important is to pick a casino with a PERFECT REPUTATION. Even among the big brands, there are some operators who will look for any excuse not to pay you if you win more than a few hundred dollars. The casino has your money in their accounts and not vice versa, which gives them a clear advantage in case of any disputes between them and their players.
But there is much more to consider: favorite games, payment methods, financial strength (especially if you are highroller), customer support, bonuses and so on…
Casino bonuses and promotions
The times when terms and conditions around casino bonuses were CRYSTAL CLEAR are gone. The reason is that casinos have to somehow protect themselves from the bonus hunters. These guys go from casino to casino looking for any crack in the bonus terms and conditions they can exploit to get an advantage.
And casinos of course need to make money so they try to protect themselves with more and more complicated bonus conditions. That is of course a legitimate way of doing business, but those bonus conditions are sometimes so damn complicated that even I (with all my background and experience) sometimes struggle to clearly understand them.
The downside to these policies is that they often hit innocent casual players who are just trying to get a little extra boost to their bankroll, and may not even have heard of bonus whoring.
Gambling math and strategies
The majority of casino games are based purely on luck. Some of them like Blackjack or Video poker have a skill aspect, where playing with the optimum strategy can increase your chances of winning , but none of them allows players to win over the casino in the longer term.
You should accept the fact that the whole casino business is based on making money from players, and not the other way around.
As the gaming industry becomes more mature, finding a crack which allows you to beat the house is more and more difficult. And the "cracks" are more risky.
You should always be aware of "beat the casino" scams. If you find a bulletproof guide on how to beat the casino somewhere on the internet, be extremely careful. The owner of that website is very likely running a revenue share partnership with the casinos and the proposed strategies won’t work in real world. Perfect examples of these are all "Double your bet on roulette" and other similar websites.
Once you accept that long term statistics will always play against you in a casino, you can start learning how to enjoy casino games and how to give your luck a chance.
You may be surprised, but even in the games of chance you can dramatically increase your chance to win by using the right long-term strategy. To find out more read my article: Gambling strategies math essentials: Learn about payout percentage and volatility.
Online casino games
There are dozens of different casino games and each of them has many variations. Analyzing each of them in detail would be a lifetime task (the Wizard of Odds has actually done that).
As most players play only few of them, me and my team have decided to focus only on the most important and popular ones. My goal is to show you guides, strategies based on common sense and computer simulations and wherever possible even push the knowledge a little further.
- Slot Machines
- Blackjack
- Roulette
- Video Poker
- Baccarat
- Online Scratch Cards
Gamble safely
- You become a victim of fraud
- You become a problematic gambler
To prevent the first one, you have to realize that when you play online, you are dealing with a company which resides thousands of kilometers from you. You don’t know those guys. The smaller the casino you are dealing with, the more paranoid you should be about playing in it.
The basics rules of thumb are:
- Use only safe payment methods.
- Keep the balance of your casino account as low as possible.
Regarding the issues of problematic gambling...
Gambling should be fun. Gambling can bring players some excitement into their lives and there are many healthy ways to enjoy gambling.
But for many players gambling has become a nightmare. There aren’t many ways how to lose your fortune in one night but gambling, sadly, is one of them. Know the basic gambling rules and know when to stop. If it might be in your nature to become addicted, the best advice is to never even start.