Great casino tips and strategies

Many people often dream about waving goodbye to their 9 to 5 job and trying their luck at a casino.

While it may seem like an ideal career change, becoming a professional gambler can be hard to achieve - after all, it’s down to luck and the house always seems to win in the end. But by taking a logical and systematic approach, you can edge the odds slightly more in your favour.

So here are some top tips for playing roulette, blackjack and slots. They may not lead to a champagne lifestyle but they could see your returns getting consistently higher.

Roulette

Roulette is one of the most popular casino games around and, although it’s purely a game of chance, there are certain steps you can take to help raise your odds of winning.

1. When you have the choice, always play European instead of American roulette - that’s because there’s an extra 00 pocket on the latter. This means, if you play on a European board, the house edge is reduced to around 2.70% rather than a 5.26% on an American board. And if the casino offers a ‘surrender’ on the European wheel, the house edge is reduced even further to 1.35%.

2. Practice, practice, practice – because the more you play the more familiar you’ll become with all the betting options. Free online tables are a great way to do this.

3. Don’t bet on single numbers. Yes, the returns are potentially greater, but the probability of winning is low. Stick to odds/evens, red/black, high/low which give you a 50:50 chance.

4. Hold on to your winnings and don’t be tempted to use them as additional stake money.

5. Don’t believe in systems. Roulette’s a true game of chance so no system is ever going to be fool proof, despite what some betting “experts” might have you believe.

Blackjack

Many comprehensive blackjack strategy guides have been written about how to play and win at blackjack. Here’s a time-saving top 5 tips to get you started.

1. Learn your basic strategy. Because blackjack’s all about probabilities, there are proven moves which will improve the odds for you. These can be learned by heart and used every time you play.

2. Counting cards is a way to work out how many high scoring cards are still to be dealt, potentially making the dealer go bust. But you should be aware that, though not against the rules, it’s frowned on by many casinos.

3. Know when to split pairs. This is also part of basic strategy and involves knowing which pairs are best to divide into two different hands. Two examples would be a pair of 8s or aces which should always be split.

4. If you’re ever tempted to take out an insurance bet when the dealer’s upcard is an ace, don’t do it - at least that’s what most blackjack pros advise.

5. Take a break from time to time to keep your mental abilities fresh and never mix alcohol with blackjack.

Slots

Despite the random nature of slots there are even some strategies you can deploy to increase your chances of winning (and also to limit your losses).

1. Play the lowest denomination slots you can find as this could improve your win: loss ratio.

2. Play machines with lower jackpots as it will increase your chances of winning.

3. Decide how much you want to gamble and once your stake money’s gone, it’s time to call it a day.

4. Take any free spins you’re offered by the casino - what have you got to lose?

5. Remember, slots are for fun, not for making money.

So there you have it, 15 tips to increase your chances of winning - although you should remember that, by its very nature, gambling’s never certain. So while these may lead to a bigger payout or two or a more consistent winning record, maybe it’s not time to give up the day-job just yet . . .