Casinos can be pretty daunting places. Lots of color and movement and flashing lights, sound effects, coins crashing out of machines, or, on the other hand, the green baize of the Baccarat and Roulette tables, beautiful women accompanying slickly-dressed, wealthy if slightly shifty-looking middle-aged men…that’s the cliché right?...

…forget about it! While you might find casinos fitting those descriptions in Vegas or Monaco, we’re not about to give you casino tips for these types of places…

We’re really talking about casino tactics in the online world where, while many of the principles are the same as they are in the traditional, bricks and mortar betting houses, there are some things you don’t need to worry about (there are no gold-digging floozies of a certain age for instance!) there are other issues which you DO need to take into account.

Online casinos rule!

Ok, we really meant online casino rules but you’ll humor us for trying! It’s necessary to get a clear picture of what it actually is:

It is not a place to make a living (unless you set up your own of course!). Yes, there are professional poker players out there who conduct most of their business online, but the online poker rooms are a slightly separate phenomenon which we don’t have space to go into here. It’s best to learn the strategies of poker and play for free money; bear in mind also that in America, many players have seen their livelihoods take a nose-dive or even be eradicated altogether by the terms of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 there so who’s to say that couldn’t happen elsewhere in the future?

So what casino strategies should you employ when gaming online? We’ll look at the general picture now, dividing it up into 3 sections or categories: first technical online casino tips including what type of gambling site to go for, then advice on what type of game to play before giving a heads up on online casino strategies for some specific games.

What type should I go for?

This should be a central plank in you casino strategy, and it depends primarily on your requirements, abilities and, to be blunt, bankroll.

No-download casinos are the choice of many, if you don’t want to take up space on your desktop with a download for instance, and now there are mobile versions of most sites you can play on the hoof.

Live dealer casinos are great but tend to be for ‘high rollers’ who aren’t playing for small stakes, and there are also technical requirements in order for the link to work.

Perhaps most important in your online casino strategy arsenal when it comes to choosing a site is a good knowledge of the welcome bonuses, free spins and other promotions, which can kick off your playing career to an awesome start. That’s why it’s a good idea to stay tuned to this site as we always have the up to date news on what the reputable operators are offering.

There’s such a wide array of games – how do I know which is right for me?

We can split the games up into two broad groups, slots and table games.

Put simply as a basic casino game strategy, slots are great entertainment and good for beginners, especially if you get a healthy welcome bonus, table games run the gamut from simple to quite complex and skilled, so unless you’re familiar with the physical version of a table game already, it’s best not to go overboard with the latter in the beginning.

Also, and you’ll need to check the casino rules to be absolutely sure, often the wagering requirements for your welcome bonus can only be completely fulfilled on slots rather than table games.

Other considerations and casino games tips are how ‘high variance’ a game is (if it’s high variance it pays out rarely, but when it does the payouts tend to be big, low variance is the opposite of that), if it is part of a progressive jackpot (by far the biggest slot payouts come from here), what maximum and minimum bets are and if you can play for free money to get a feel for a game before committing.

Casino game rules are usually just a click away if you’re not sure how to play a game.

What about a few tips on some individual games to get me started?

Well, there are plenty of casino gambling tips pertaining to each specific game, and we will cover these individually in this section.

There are so many great slots out there that listing them is beyond the scope of this short introduction, though be sure to look for a Return to Player (RTP) of at least 97% (international casino games rules require the RTP of any slot game to be published).

Table games will vary a lot more as to what kind of return you can expect, but Blackjack for instance can have some quite competitive edges, rendered all the more favorable to the player if you have blackjack tables to hand.

When playing Roulette, it’s worth always going for the French version if available, or European if not (avoid the American version if you can because it has both a ‘0’ and a ‘00’ on the wheel, significantly reducing the odds on your bet coming up.

Be sure to check out all our articles here for tips, rules and strategies for specific casino games!