The Easiest Online Casino Games for Beginners to Master

Slots – Just Spin to Win

The majority of online casino games are slots. From the game's humble beginnings, slots have come a long way and today offer a hugely engaging experience. These games are usually flashy and have their own themes. You can expect to find slots with themes such as history, nature, fantasy, retro, cultural, brands, sports, and a lot more.

These slots will all have their own grids, ways that you can win, maximum winning combinations, bonus features, free spins, jackpots, and more.

How to Play Slots

The main principle in slots is that you will have to spin a number of reels when the reels stop, combinations of matching symbols should have landed on them. The number of reels, number of symbols, winning combinations, and how much each combination pays, will vary from slot to slot. Usually, you can pick up how each game works in a matter of minutes, or even less if you are more experienced with slots. Each game will come with its own structure, symbols, features, and bonus features.

Slot Types

There are three main types of slots: classic slots, video slots, and arcade slots. The majority of titles are either classic or video slots, and these basically have reels, rows, and paylines. Paylines are paths that can be drawn over the reels from left to right. If you have consecutive matching symbols along one of these paylines, from left to right, then you will win a certain amount - depending on how many consecutive matching symbols you have. The paylines always start from the first reel on the left and go right unless specified by a game, but we will go into that later.

Classic Slots: These are the simplest slots that you can find. They usually have 3 reels and 9 paylines or less and have relatively few bonus features - if any at all.

Video Slots: These slots are slightly more advanced versions of the classic slots. These are usually 5 reel slots or larger, and there are far more paylines available. These slots usually have their own bonus features, which can be picking rounds, free spin rounds, or even features that can occur during regular gameplay.

Arcade Slots: Arcade slots differ greatly from the two other types of slots. Here, instead of paylines or winning combinations through paths, you will have to land groups of matching symbols either horizontally or vertically to win. These slots can also offer bonus features and bonus rounds, but this will vary for each title.

Progressive Slots: Any type of slot can be linked to a progressive jackpot and sometimes the jackpots can be worth millions. The jackpots increases constantly, as every time a player makes a bet then a portion of the bet will be added to the pot. If you are lucky and hit the jackpot, you will collect a huge sum of money and then the jackpot will be reset to its default value.

Slot Features

Slots can have plenty of features to make each game even more enticing for players. Some common examples are wild symbols, multipliers, cascading reels, Megaways, bi-directional paylines, and many more.

Wilds are symbols that you can land and these will substitute any other symbol to create a winning line. Some games may have expanding or sticky wilds, which will either expand to fill a whole reel or they will stick in place for several rounds. Sometimes, a title may have wild symbols with multipliers. These will multiply the winnings by x2, x3, x5, and so on.

If you land a winning combination in a game that has cascading reels, then the winning symbols are removed after you win and the symbols above will fall in their place. If you land another winning combo, then the same will happen again, until there are no more wins.

Megaways is a feature where the number of rows changes after each spin. This changes the number of ways you can win after each spin. Bi-directional paylines are where you can win by landing a combination both from left to right and from right to left.

Bonus Rounds

Bonus rounds are basically additional games within a slot. If you trigger a bonus round, then you will be taken away from the regular game and you will have the chance to win some great prizes in a separate round. These rounds may have slightly different themes, rules, or symbols - to distinguish the round from the regular gameplay.

Free spins are rounds where you have a certain number of spins that you do not need to stake a bet for, and you can collect some massive prizes at the end of the round. Usually, to trigger a free spins round you will need to land a certain number of scatter symbols or bonus symbols. This can be 3, 4, or 5, depending on the game. Some games offer free spins after you have accumulated a certain number of special symbols. This can give gamers something to look forward to and make the game more appealing.

Bonus rounds can appear in many forms. They may be picking games, where you have to open boxes or flip symbols to uncover a cash prize, multiplier, free spins, or a combination of those prizes. Bonus games can also be wheels of fortune, where a wheel is spun and you can land a certain prize. You can also find bonus rounds that are similar to free spins, but they may have different symbols or slightly different rules on how you can win. The prizes may also vary in these bonus round games.

Blackjack – The Classic Game of 21

Blackjack is a glamorous game that attracts massive crowds at land casinos. At online casinos, it is just as popular - if not more. There are many different types of blackjack, and each has its own special rules and features, but here we will only go into the traditional form of blackjack.

How to Play Blackjack

The principle of blackjack is quite simple - you need to have cards that have a collected value of 21 or as close as you can get to 21 without going over. If you have a higher value of cards than the dealer, then you win the round. The number cards are worth their value in numbers, the royal cards J, Q, and K, are all worth 10, and the A is worth either 11 or 1 - depending on the hand.

When you start, you will need to set a stake, and then the dealer will draw 2 cards for you and 2 for the house but 1 of those cards will be face down. If you do not land an instant blackjack (which is a card valued at 10 together with an A), then you will have the option to either “hit” or “stand”. If you hit, then the dealer will draw an extra card and add it to your hand. You can keep hitting until you reach 21 or you go over 21 - in which case you lose the hand. If you choose to stand, then the dealer will have to reveal the card face down, and then if you have a higher total than the dealer you win. If the house has a higher total, then you lose.

There may be other features you will have at your disposal, such as “double down”, “split” or “insurance”. Insurance is normally offered if the dealer’s face-up card is an Ace, it is a bet on whether the dealer has blackjack or not. Insurance costs half of your initial bet at pays at 2:1.

Double down is a feature that will be available after the cards are drawn. If you choose to double down after the cards are drawn, you will double your stake and the dealer will only draw 1 more card for you.

Splitting is also a feature that you can only do after the cards are drawn. If you draw 2 cards with the same value, then you can split them into two hands and then the dealer will draw another card for each hand. You can hit or stand after these cards are dealt on either hand - just the same as if you were playing 1 hand. What this does is gives you a chance to play with 2 hands against the dealer, but be careful, as you will have to double your stake after choosing to split.

Strategies and Other Types of Blackjack

The basic rules are quite easy to pick up, but there are some strategies that players can employ to reduce the house edge. These depend heavily on what type of blackjack you are playing but assuming you are playing traditional blackjack, there is a basic strategy that tells you when to hit, stand, double down, and so on. These are based on what cards you have been dealt and what the house has.

Other types of blackjack include European Blackjack, Blackjack Switch, Spanish Blackjack, Progressive Blackjack, and more.

Roulette – Betting on the Spinning Wheel

Roulette is a classic casino game that you will find in all land casinos and in almost every online casino. It is the easiest game to play, as you do not need to learn much before starting to place your bets.

There are different formats of roulette, but the main principles of the game are the same. There is a wheel and a ball that spins on the wheel. The wheel has 37 segments, numbered 0 through 36. Each segment is either red or black, apart from the 0 which is green. You will need to bet on which segment you think the ball will land on once it stops spinning around the wheel - and there are plenty of bets at your disposal.

The Many Types of roulette Bets

Straight Up: This is a bet on the ball to land on a specific numbered segment. You can place your money on any of the segments, including 0, and if you win then you will win x36 your bet.

Split: You can bet on 2 adjoining numbers on the roulette table (granted they are positioned next to each other), and if the ball lands on one of the two segments then you will win x18 your bet.

Basket: This is when you bet on 0, 1, or 2; or when you bet on 0, 2, 3. If the ball lands on one of your chosen numbers then you can win x12 your bet.

Street: The numbers are lined up in triplets, which means the first line will be 1, 2, 3; the second line will be 3, 4, 5; the third line will be 6, 7, 8; and so on. You can bet on one of these lines, called streets, and if you win then you can receive x12 your bet.

Corner: This is the same as the split, only you will be able to bet on 4 adjoining numbers rather than 2. If the ball lands on one of these numbers then you will win x9 your bet.

Six Line: This is where you combine 2 streets, so you will be betting on the ball to fall on one of 6 numbers. If you win, you will receive x6 your bet.

Columns (1, 2, 3): This bet is on the ball to land on either the first, second, or third column. Each column contains 12 numbers (0 is not included), and if the ball lands on one of the numbers of your choice then you win x3 your bet.

Dozens (1, 2, 3): Dozens are the same as columns, only they are bets on the numbers 1 through 12, 13 through 24, and 25 through 36. The odds are the same as the columns.

Even/Odd: This is simply a bet on whether the ball will land on an even number or an odd. If you win, you will receive 2 your bet.

Red/Black: This is a bet on whether the ball will fall on a black or a red segment (remember the 0 is not included because it is green). It is the same as the even/odd bet, bringing you back even money,

1-18 or 19-36: This is simply a bet on the ball to land on a number either between 1-18 or 19-36. If you win, you will receive x2 your bet.

Casino Gaming Couldn’t Be Simpler

There are many variants of these online casino games, but most of them follow the same rules and principles. If you are feeling hesitant to jump in then do not worry, as demo versions of each game are usually supplied. This way you can test the games out for yourself for free, and then if you want to stake some money then you can try them out for real cash. Good luck!