Can You Play and Win With Online Gambling?
The popularity of online casinos skyrocketed over the last 20 years thanks to the internet and states legalizing digital gambling. Despite the demand for online casino games, many remain skeptical that people can profit from gambling on the internet. Whether you can consistently make money at a casino is a legitimate concern.
There is no simple answer to this question. Some people have proven consistent winners at a casino while the majority of players are lifetime losers. Which would you like to be? If you want to beat the house, there are a few things you have to know before getting started. These simple tips to maximize your chances of winning are your best bet at profiting long-term.
Understand the House Edge
To beat the house, you first have to understand how casinos stack the odds against you any chance they get. You can look at it as the casino’s fee for providing the services they do. Without the house advantage, casinos would not be profitable businesses.
To be specific, the house edge is the ratio of the average loss to the initial stake. The house edge is relative to the original wager because, in some games, the initial bet is not always the final bet. Focusing only on the beginning wager also makes it easier for players to estimate wins and losses. For example, if the house edge of a game is 0.43%, that means you stand to lose $0.43 for every $10.00 wagered.
There is a lot more to how casinos profit, but we will save those details for a later article. For now, it’s enough that you understand that the house edge exists and why it matters.
Pick the Right Games
Now that you are aware that different games have different chances to win, it’s time to find the best games for consistent profits. If you are choosing purely based on the house edge then you will want to focus on games like Blackjack, Spanish 21, Casino War, and Ultimate Texas Hold ‘Em. Other than blackjack, the other games are variations on classics that give players better chances to win. Spanish 21, for example, is blackjack where the dealer has to hit on a soft 17 and all the 10s are removed from the deck.
While playing the least risky games is a good place to start, there are other factors in how profitable a game is in the long haul. Another important factor is Return to Player (RTP). This is a metric used primarily with slot machines and is closely related to the house edge. The RTP of a game is listed as a percentage from 1% to 100%.
If a game has an RTP of 95%, it means that the casino will win $5 for every $100 you wager. All games have the RTP listed for reference. Try to stick to games with an RTP of 94% and above. These will give you the best bang for your buck.
Other factors to take into account are the volatility of each game and how many hands per hour you can play at an average pace.
Utilize an Online Gambling Strategy
The key to success in any venture is to create a plan and stick to it. This goes for playing the stock market, fantasy football or the highest level of professional sports. This principle also applies to online gambling. If you go into it without a plan, you are setting yourself up to fail. Playing without a strategy is a great way to go broke as quickly as possible.
It is hard to recommend just one or two strategies because they can vary from game to game. But, there are a few that cover just about any genre.
One such strategy is known as the Martingale Betting System and has been in use since 18th century France. The system has evolved over the years and spawned variations, but the basic idea is simple to understand.
Take for example a game consisting of the flip of a coin. A simple heads or tails bet. The strategy dictates that you double your bet after every loss. Therefore, the first win instantly recovers all previous losses plus a profit on the initial stake.
Statistically speaking, this is a guaranteed way to make money without question. The only caveat is that doubling every loss can get very expensive. On a $20 initial bet, you will be risking $640 after five losses and $20,480 after ten. Anyone who has gambled before knows that it’s easier than it sounds to lose ten hands in a row. So, unless you have an infinite bankroll, use caution with the Martingale system. It’s best reserved for games with low minimums and a 1:1 payout such as betting outside on roulette.
While the Martingale system is technically guaranteed to eventually win, we recommend a less risky strategy such as the Labouchere system. Also known as the cancellation strategy or split Martingale, is another way to dictate your unit size. In this system, you create a unit size and choose how many units you want to win during the current session. Using this figure, create a list of positive numbers that add up to the chosen total. Take the first and final numbers of this sequence and use them as your initial bet. If the bet wins, cancel both figures and move on to the new first and last numbers in the sequence. Continue until all the numbers you chose are canceled. If you lose a bet, you instead add the lost wager to the end of the sequence and continue. It is a less risky alternative but with less of a guarantee.
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