When you play in an online casino, you have to play against the 'edge', simply put the casino's advantage over you. For example, a casino slot might have an edge of 5% (payout average of 95%), meaning for every 1.00 wagered in the casino, your 'expected' loss would be 0.05 and you'd win 0.95 back from the casino. Check out the facts about the casino edge and how you can minimise it.
The edge
The edge you must play against in a casino is derived from the concept of 'true odds'; or more specifically, the fact that casino games are not played with true odds. For example, let's say I offer you a coin flip casino game, where the chance of winning with heads and tails is of course 50% (1:1). However, if I offer you those odds but a payouts less than evens, then you'd be playing against the true odds of the situation. In the long run, if I paid you 0.95 for a 1.00 wager on heads/tails (a return of 1.95), in the long run you'd slowly lose and it's the same with casinos. Of course, this is how casinos make money, and they still offer many ways to win, sometimes millions! Check out the tips for boosting your fortunes and minimising the impact of the edge:
Fun casino gaming and jackpots
Many casual gamers are not too bothered about the casino edge, because their gaming is based on leisure (in the same way that you might pay for the cinema, you wagers are essentially paying for fun). If you adopt this strategy, then you can aim to win without worrying about losing (so long as you're using a low-risk bankroll). Of course, with a little luck, casino systems and strategies, the 90% plus average payouts can deliver hours of fun and rewards. Ultimately, you can also win huge jackpots by hitting the luck full-on! The biggest online casino jackpots are well over £1 million.
Skill gaming
Playing games of skill in online casinos is ideally the best strategy to adopt if you're a serious player or want the challenge of trying to win. For example, games including poker, video poker and blackjack can be played with real strategies and are actually classified as skill games because players can potentially beat the casino by reversing the edge slightly. Even a novice casino skill gamer can aim to limit the edge by playing with a basic strategy chart, prolonging their bankroll and hitting more winning hands and sessions. The casino's edge may exist, but it doesn't have to remain as big.
Level stakes
One important way of making sure the casino's edge doesn't eat into your profits or make your expenditure bigger is to game with the same stake size or credit size. For example, this might be 0.10 per credit in video poker or roulette. If you play with ever changing wager levels, then you could end-up losing more if you get an unlucky session.
Play regularly
Although in the long-term the casino edge may average something like 2-5%, in the short-term there will be pockets of good and bad fortune; by playing regularly you can find the lucky cycles needed for winning sessions and potentially extreme luck with the big jackpots.
