Have you always been intrigued by the bright lights and excitement of casino gaming but never been sure where to start? As long as you play responsibly and are aware of your limits, there’s plenty of fun to be had.
There’s a lot of variety in terms of the kinds of games offered both virtually and in person but, for those looking to warm up without anything too complicated, these are the best ones to kick off with.
Slot machines
These games of chance are available in perhaps the biggest variety of themes you’ll encounter among casino games, so you can try whichever flavour appeals to you the most. A slot machine features a number of reels (usually three, but sometimes more) with various symbols on them, and you’ll bet on spinning particular combinations of symbols to earn winnings. When playing digitally, the results you get will be determined by a random number generator (RNG) to ensure consistent chances of success.
When the results of the spin are revealed, you’ll win according to that particular machine’s paylines – if you bet on them. Paylines are the configurations of symbols across the reels, and they might be straight or zig-zagging depending on the game you’re playing.
Roulette
Perhaps the most iconic game of chance out there, roulette features a wheel of 36 numbers, half of which are red and half are black. Players place bets on either the ‘inside’ of the wheel – betting on a specific number coming up – or the ‘outside’, broader bets about the colour that will come up, whether it will be even or odd, low or high, and so on. There’s no strategy involved, making roulette an ideal game for beginners on top of its easy-to-understand betting rules.
Baccarat
Another simple game but one offering a little bit of added glamour thanks to its iconic status as James Bond’s favourite, baccarat sees you betting on whether you or the dealer will have a hand adding up closest to nine at the end of a game (or betting on a tie).
Once bets are placed, the player and the dealer draw two cards each and calculate their value – with face cards worth zero and aces worth one. If either hand totals six or less, they draw a third card, but if a player’s cards go above nine then their hand is reduced in value by 10. It’s simple, quick and exciting!
Blackjack
If you’d like to introduce a little bit of strategy into your play then blackjack is a great choice. Similar to baccarat, both the player and the dealer will draw cards and add up the values – the goal being to get as close to 21 as possible without going over, in which case the hand is lost. Face cards are worth 10, with aces either one or 11 depending on what’s best for the hand.
Once bets are placed and you’ve seen your initial cards, you’ll be able to apply some thinking by deciding whether to ‘hit’ for extra cards or ‘stand’ on the number you’ve got, analysing whether you think the odds are in your favour.
