Online casinos should be all about fun and entertainment. However, there are also ways to increase your chances of winning at an online casino, whether you play slots, poker or anything else. Playcasinos.ca's Geraldine Nguyen laid out the facts for us.
Make use of your bonuses
Most online casinos offer attractive welcome bonuses and other ongoing bonuses such as reload bonuses and free spins. Learn to use the bonuses strategically to increase your chances of winning more, or at least getting a better return on investment overall. Always read the bonus terms and conditions though. Some come with unrealistically high wagering requirements, meaning that you have to deposit and wager many times the amount of the initial deposit and bonus before you can claim back the bonus funds.
To maximize winnings, look for casinos with no or low wagering requirements, and generous time limits when it comes to when the wagering requirements have to be met. No deposit bonuses, such as free spins, are a good way to potentially win without even having to wager, but again, read the terms and conditions carefully. Sometimes winnings from free spins are credited as bonus funds that also have wagering requirements attached.
Know the RTP ratio
RTP stands for Return to Player and is expressed as a percentage of automated games such as video slots. It is essentially the percentage of the money you wager that you can expect to receive back in winnings from any given casino game. For example, if a game has an RTP of 97%, then for every $100 you wager on that specific game, you can expect to get back $97.
This isn't a guarantee, of course. The RTP is technically the amount that the game pays out over time as a percentage of the money wagered on it, but it's always possible that you'll win a lot less, or substantially more, in any given session. You could hit a huge jackpot on your very first spin or play for hours without winning anything of note. While there are no guarantees, it does make sense, statistically speaking, to pick games with a higher RTP if you want to boost your chances of winning.
Most slots in online casinos have an RTP somewhere in the 90s, and anything over 97% is generally considered a high RTP. Of course, you'll need to find out what the RTP is before you play, if sticking to high RTP games is part of your winning strategy. The RTP ratio of a game won't always be obvious, but most online casinos do actually publish it somewhere. You'll usually find it in the info section of an online slot in most casinos.
Play table games with a low house edge
You may have heard that the house always wins, and this is certainly true. All casino games have a built-in 'house edge', which means that statistically the 'house' (that's the casino) is more likely to win than the player. However, the house edge varies greatly from game to game and can also depend on the version you're playing and the type of bet you place.
The table game that is generally accepted to have the lowest house edge is blackjack. With a house edge of as low as 0.5%, the profit margin for the casino is very low, with players likely to win more than 49% of the time, though this does depend on various factors, such as player experience. Just as with the RTP on slot games, there are no guarantees, and you can still lose big at the blackjack tables, but it is statistically less likely than with many other games.
Sometimes the house edge depends on the version of the game and the wagers you place. For example, the house edge is lower when playing European roulette than when playing American roulette. This is because there is an extra zero when you play the American version that you can't bet on, so it never pays out. The house edge is still fairly low in roulette; however, if you are simply betting on red or black, as there's a close to 50/50 chance that the ball will land on one or the other. Obviously, other types of bets carry a much higher likelihood that you will lose, which is why the payout is also higher.
Learn to manage your bankroll
Managing your bankroll is simply about setting sensible spending limits and learning to be disciplined in the way that you wager and when you stop wagering altogether. When you're on a losing streak, it's tempting to chase your losses and keep gambling even if you've already blown your budget. However, learning to set a budget and stick to it is vital to maximizing your winnings over time.
You don't want to overstretch yourself financially, but it's also true that the longer you play, the more likely you are to pocket some prizes. So, it can be a good bankroll management strategy to stick to smaller wagers and play for longer, to give yourself more time to land a big win. Good bankroll management is all about staying in control of your spending and making wise decisions, rather than wagering on a whim.
Practice your strategy
Developing a winning strategy for the games you play regularly can be a way to significantly increase your chances of winning, especially if you like to play games that involve some skill, rather than games of pure chance. With some casino games, such as poker, learning a little strategy can make a big difference, as you can learn which hands are worth playing, when to fold, how much to bet, and even how to bluff. Even with games such as blackjack and baccarat that do involve a lot of luck, there are still strategies you can use to increase the odds of winning. You can increase your knowledge on different strategies by reading blogs by experienced players.
When you log onto your favourite online casino, your main aim should be to have fun. However, using a few tricks to maximize your winnings doesn't hurt and might just make your time spent in the online casino lobby really worthwhile.