Casino Game Guides

No longer reserved only for the rich and powerful, Baccarat is a centuries old game that is widely available at most online casinos these days, although you will be harder pressed to find it at a physical casino. Here we will briefly take you through the history of the game, how to play it, as well as answering a few frequently asked questions and clearing up some potentially confusing terms and phrases.

Although not as popular as the likes of roulette and blackjack to Western casino players, baccarat is extremely popular in other parts of the world and in fact, there are some surprising and revealing stats on this topic in this article.

Blackjack has the lowest house edge of any casino game when played properly, so it is no surprise that it is one of the most sought after games at any gambling house. It is also fairly easy to understand after a very short time playing, at least on a basic level.

Of course there is potential to get a lot more involved and start learning perfect strategies too, but these can be tricky to learn especially if you are playing live. You ca learn more about this inside.

It might not be as well known in this country as some other casino games, but Craps has been keeping people entertained for hundreds of years, and offers numerous ways to enjoy a bet as well as more flexibility than most other games.

It’s a game that can feel a little intimidating to the uninitiated, what with so many different areas of the board, people placing bets all over the place, and the hysteria that can build during a round; but these are all indicators of how much fun can be had while playing and you should not let them put you off. Once you have read this guide you will feel much better equipped to give Craps a shot.

Few games have been tinkered with quite as much as poker over the years, and there are now more variations than you can shake a stick at. Texas Hold’em is probably the most well know variant these days though, and we cover that game is depth in this article.

Synonymous with the glamour of Hollywood as well as the danger of the underworld, poker is a game with real character – it has even been the star of a few movies – but its roots can be traced back thousands of years. Everyone from Chinese Emperors to American Civil War soldiers have enjoyed a game of poker through the ages, and it is now the most commercialised casino game there is.

It only exists because of a failed experiment in engineering, but roulette has dominated the gambling industry for centuries. It is arguably the simplest and most accessible game in any casino, requiring next to no knowledge and zero skill. It is a game that runs purely on luck.

Despite this, there is plenty to learn about roulette if you want to give yourself the best chance of winning and avoiding games with a higher house edge, and with so many different variations available now you have never had more choice.

Originating from ancient China where it was first played more than 2000 years ago, Sic Bo is one of the oldest casino games in the world, despite being much less well known in the Western world at least.

However, the relentless hunger of gamblers for new games to play has meant it has had something of a resurgence over here in recent years, with more and more casinos offering it and even a variation or two creeping in. It is a fun, fast paced game with plenty of betting options, and after the initial learning curve it is very simple too, perfect when you want to try something a little bit different.

How do you make a great slot even better? Build a progressive jackpot into it and give players the chance to win large jackpot prizes on top of the base game. Progressive jackpots have been around in some form since the 70s, but the internet opened the door to new ways of linking players from different casinos and enabling them all to play for gigantic sums of money that drop relatively often.

There is a difference between a regular jackpot and a progressive one though, and this article will explain that difference as well as highlight some of the most famous progressives of all time.

By far and away the most popular online gambling games in the industry, there are literally thousands of them to choose between and from hundreds of different game developers too. Part of their appeal is their simplicity, although if you have never played one before you might need a little help understanding what you are looking at.

That’s where we come in. This article is all about slots, where they come from, and how to play them. There are also a few recommendations to get you started – slots that have proved popular with players for years on end.

Megaways slots have taken the online gaming industry by storm since their inception in 2016. Australian developer Big Time Gaming are behind the game mechanic, but they have since licensed it out to many other developers too.

It is a reel modifier that creates hundreds of thousands of potential winning combinations, significantly enhancing the experience of playing the games and offering potential payouts as close to a big jackpot as it is possible to get without actually playing a jackpot slot and taking a hit to the RTP.

If you took the lottery, put it in a hot air balloon, and let people bet on when that air balloon would crash, you would have something a little like Cash or Crash. This lottery style game from Evolution Gaming is played using red and green balls that either continue the game and increase the payout, or quickly end it taking any unclaimed winnings crashing back down to earth.

The game offers a maximum 18,000x win (50,000x if the special golden ball is drawn) but your chances of getting the main prize decrease with every green ball drawn, so it becomes a question of how long the player dares to hold on to their winning streak.

If it all gets too much, it is possible to cash out after a successful green ball is drawn, and the ability to take half of your money out is also available, so while the game itself is all blind luck, there is potential for strategy when it comes to when and how winnings are taken.

We have all heard of and probably seen the TV show, and while the online live game version doesn’t have Noel Edmunds, it does come with the potential to win a lot of money. The exact amount is up to you though, as this game is all about how much you are able and willing to risk in the hope of winning higher amounts.

This also makes it a potentially expensive game to play depending on how you approach it and what kind of stake levels you go for, but that’s the trade off for a game as exciting as this. The adrenaline can really start flowing with this one, especially as the last few boxes are opened, and the extra levels of engagement achieved by playing with a live game host also merit attention.

This was the game that really shook things up in the live casino world, attracting players who would usually shy away from the live casino thanks to its bright and lively atmosphere, exciting fast paced gameplay, and simplicity. The hosts switch out every 30 minutes or so too, so the game is constantly changing and evolving.

It’s a simple case of spinning a big wheel and hoping it lands in your favour, but within that there is room for a certain amount of strategy and a lot of flexibility when it comes to stake levels, so Dream Catcher will appeal to players of all experience and bankrolls.

The most popular casino game in the world is available at live casinos in a few different variations. None of them contain any ground breaking changes, but there are tweaks that can alter the experience even if the rules don’t really change.

This is a very quick game that can easily see upwards of 60 hands per hour, and the live betting interface is incredibly user friendly as well as containing a few different methods of tracking the historical results for all of those players who use these stats.

Playing live online blackjack offers a social element which you cannot get playing on an RNG based game, and it is also better suited to those who believe in computerised game conspiracy theories as you can watch the dealer draw cards and be sure nothing untoward is going on – but it also comes with a few considerations.

There is now more live blackjack than ever before, and this format has also opened the door to a few variations that couldn’t exist in any other way.

This is thought of by many as a game of skill and wits as much as anyhting else, but when you take the other players out of the equation and only bet against the dealer the game changes dramatically, and that is certainly the case with live casino Hold’em.

It’s still a fun game that is in the same ball park as poker as you may know it, but by its’ nature it cannot be the same game in the way that something like roulette can. That said, the number of Hold’em variations ensures that there is a version available that all poker players can enjoy.

A relatively recent addition to the live casino space, live craps aims to create the same sort of atmosphere as you would get playing it in real life by allowing thousands of players to bet on the same game, which is overseen by a live dealer.

It’s not a game that has been adapted heavily so when you come across live craps it will almost certainly be played with the exact same rules as an RNG based or real life version of the game, although betting time is limited to 15 seconds per roll so you have to quick.

Bridging the gap between playing a lonely RNG based game and setting off to visit a real life roulette table, live roulette gives players the chance to play their favourite game alongside others and also provides them with a real life dealer they can chat to.

The live aspect also allows for a few ingenious game variations that you won’t be able to play in a real casino, so it is a genre in its own right as well as an excellent alternative for those living too far from the real thing but who want as authentic an experience as possible.

Mega ball is a live studio game from Evolution Gaming with a lottery / bingo-style theme.  The game is as easy to play as bingo, you simply buy 5×5 cards with 24 numbers on each, you can buy between 1-200 cards for each game.  There are 51 numbers in a lottery style draw machine, each time a ball is drawn that you have it is automatically marked off your card, you can win for getting lines or a full-house.

Once the main round is over there is then a bonus round, this is where the mega ball is drawn.  The Mega Ball will have a multiplier attached (5x to 100x), if this ball completes one of your lines or your card your winnings are enhanced to that amount.

Everyone has heard of Monopoly, there is a version out there for seemingly everything. But did you know that it was also available as a Live Casino game? Well you do now. It’s another of Evolution Gaming’s creations and they have done a superb job of adapting the original and adding a gambling aspect that is fun, exciting, and dynamic.

This game takes place on a big wheel and is all about multipliers really, although good old Chance and Community Chest do come into play as well. As does Mr Monopoly himself who can be seen keeping an eye on the action from his armchair, and even taking the reigns from the live host when called to do so. It’s another game that can be as rewarding as you want to make it, with bets available from 10p and upwards.

Although the name might suggest otherwise, video poker can trace its’ roots all the way back to the 1800s when the biggest prizes included cigarettes and drinks. The game has come a long way since then of course, developing into the game we know today at some time in the 1970’s and being a favourite of anyone wanting a more laid back poker experience with a low house edge.

There are countless variations of the game all with slightly different rules and payouts, but all function in more or less the same way.

It’s an excellent choice for anyone new to poker who wants to learn the basics at their own pace, with rounds that play through quickly and simply and a lot of flexibility when it comes to staking levels.

If you have simpler tastes then Keno is a much ignored game that could be perfect for you. It’s similar to bingo in a lot of ways but distinctly different in others, and it has a fascinating history behind it too – it is at least in part responsible for the construction of The Great Wall of China.

This game offers more flexibility than other games both in terms of your betting options and your potential payouts, although it is a game that relies solely on luck and there is no skill to it whatsoever. It has seen a fair few variations developed too over the last few years, a sign perhaps that its popularity is on the rise.

You might think that scratch cards have been in decline as gambling has moved online but in reality more is now spent on them than ever before.  We are not talking about the ones you buy in shops, rather the online instant win games that are made to look like scratch cards.

Online scratch cards and instant win games are attractive to people as they are very simple to play and require little skill, there is no question they are popular games to play but are they good value?  Many games have mini-games within them that ask you to make decisions but are you actually in control of this or is it all predefined before you even start playing?

Exchange games are provided by Betfair, the worlds largest betting exchange.  The idea here is you can bet on outcomes in typical casino table games, such as roulette, blackjack, baccarat, Texam Hold’em and others, in a similar way you would do in a typical casino.  There are two major differences however, firstly you are not betting against the casino site but instead you are betting against other players, secondly you can lay markets (betting on something not to happen) as well as back them, in effect becoming your own mini-casino.

The exchange charges a commission for all winning bets but otherwise you are betting with other normal people.  This means you can often get better odds and value compared to a fixed-odds casino.  As you are betting with other users bets need to be matched, i.e. someone who wants to back a market at a certain price and stake has to find someone willing to lay that market on the same terms.  Read more in our guide.

A game with loads of history that became especially popular in the American old West, is Faro. It’s fast paced but incredibly simple to learn and to play, and is a good one for strategists too as you can improve your skill with Faro by studying the crads and tracking which have already come up.

The only reason Faro isn’t widely available anymore is because it’s not a huge earner for the casinos, so of course they favour other more profitable games, but Faro can be found online if you look hard enough. Essentially, it’s a guessing game where the player predicts which of the next two cards drawn will be the winner, and which will be the loser, with bets on cards not drawn being carried forwards unless changed or removed by the player.

An absolute classic in India that has been played for years, Andar Bahar is an attractively simple game which is great for beginners, because it takes no time learn and requires no skill. It’s essentially a guessing game, but the different ways you can bet on it make it much more interesting than something like Hi-Lo or War.

Game rounds don’t take a particularly long time, but there is also very little wasted time within each game, since you can often make bets relating to every stage of the game, meaning that every single card that is turned over is relevant to you and your bets, and therefore keeps things entertaining throughout.

Bridge is a game known to be used for keeping the mind sharp, which is perhaps why it is also partly seen (unfairly) as a game for the older generations. It is certainly one of the more complicated card games out there, one of the most dynamic, and one of very few that is played in teams rather than individually too.

Most often it is played for fun, but there are games played for money as well, both at bridge clubs and at competitions organised in much the same way as the World Series of Poker – there are even professional bridge players who make their living from the game.

Unusually for a card game, Euchre is played in teams rather than as individuals. It isn’t the easiest game to get to grips with, but once you get the hang of it there is a lot of strategy to experiment with and loads of betting options too. Sadly you won’t really find the game available to play for real money online (although it is available for fun), but it’s probably most enjoyable in person anyway.

Each game is broken down into rounds, which themselves are split into 5 tricks. Each team wants to win the game, and they do this by winning rounds and getting between 1 and 4 points depending on the way in which they win. Rounds are won by winning tricks, and you can work with your team mate to achieve this.

Confusingly, Fan Tan can refer to two very different games; one played with beads and another played with cards. This article will tackle both, but the traditional game of Fan Tan is a guessing game played with beads, with players having to predict how many will remain once the rest have been divided into groups of four. The players compete against the house in Fan Tan.

The pretender to the Fan Tan throne is a game played with cards, which you may know as Sevens or perhaps Parliament, during which the object of the game is to get rid of your cards as quickly as possible by laying them down in sequential order. This is a player vs player game.

A bit of a surprise to see perhaps, but Sabacc is the most popular game in the galaxy according to some, and it’s not only played in the movies either. Sabacc might have come from the Star Wars universe but it very much exists in the real world today, and in a very different variations too.

It’s a game with similarities to both blackjack and poker, but with a little more depth and a greater number of choices for the players, as well as more diverse ways to build a winning hand. With positive and negative numbers cancelling each other out, the idea is to get as close to zero as possible.

Teen Patti is one of the biggest games in India, it even has national competitions that take place in much the same way as the World Series of Poker in the Western World. It is actually a very similar game to 3 Card Poker in its original form, although there are a few key differences, and live casino versions have been created that have altered the game further.

Stakes are restricted by the rules in Teen Patti to some degree, or at least the way in which stakes can escalate, and the choice to bet ‘blind’ or ‘seen’ adds an interesting extra layer to the game that not many other casino games include. There is room for strategy within Teen Patti, as well as bluffing and different styles of play, so it has a little bit of everything.