Playing at any land-based or online casino comes with a degree of risk. For beginners, it’s important to understand this before signing up and using personal finances to gamble. However, if you follow certain precautionary steps, recognise the nature of casino games and remain disciplined throughout, playing at a casino can become a very enjoyable and rewarding experience in the long run. Let’s take a look at some useful tips to help you get started!
Play For Fun
Some of the best online casinos offer a demo mode for their slot and table games. Without even registering an account, it allows you to play without any financial risk at all. It is a great way to get a feel of how online games work where demo credits are used in place of real money.
In terms of slots, using play for fun mode allows you to experience first-hand how the mechanics of spins operate and the typical payouts achieved. Likewise, with so many different gameplay models and design themes to choose from, it’s a great way to explore extensive slot catalogues on an individual basis.
Signing Up
When registering a new account, it’s imperative to enter all of your personal details accurately. Because of stringent anti-fraud measures, the casino will likely need to verify your information at some point and may block withdrawals if you can’t provide proof of account ownership.
Also make sure to analyse their accepted payment methods in terms of deposits and withdrawals, checking if you won’t encounter issues when cashing out winnings. Some online casinos may impose payment transaction fees which may influence your decision to register in the first place.
Welcome Offers
When you’re ready to take the plunge and register an account, you will be offered a generous Welcome Bonus package by the casino. Typically, this will consist of additional bonus money and/or free spins that will be attached to your first deposit. Taking advantage of this sign-up offer will prolong your initial playing session and grant you more experience of how an online casino operates.
It will also teach you how to claim and play with an online casino bonus, something you’ll encounter more of as your journey continues. However, before opting into any promotional offer, beginners especially should always read the terms and conditions very carefully.
Understanding Terms
Every reputable online casino will display its main terms and conditions somewhere on their website, usually located in the footer. It’s advised to give this a glance over, focussing on important clauses such as payment and player eligibility rules. When it comes to claiming a bonus offer, specific terms should be read through separately.
Here, it pays to fully understand what any unfamiliar terms stand for as they could impact on your ability to make a successful withdrawal. They will include such terms as bonus validity, wagering requirements and maximum bets permitted whilst playing with an active bonus.
Responsible Gaming Limits
Another highly recommended tip for novice players is to set up account limits immediately. It’s all too easy to get carried away with the excess of exciting games on offer, and perhaps naively believing a big win is just one spin away, this can lead to some detrimental early losses that are hard to recover from.
Casino limits include a ‘reality check’ function where an on-screen message alerts of your time logged-in and current session profit/loss margin. There’s also deposit, wager and loss limits which ensure you cannot exceed the specified amount within a set amount of time. Also be aware of the time-out function which locks your account if you need to take a break.
Recognising the House Edge
As the old saying goes “the house always wins”, and although this statement isn’t necessarily true, it’s very important to recognise the advantage that casino games have over players in the long-term. For example, the inclusion of the green zero segment on a roulette wheel represents the house edge on this particular game.
In relation to slots, the average return-to-player (RTP) will also be set somewhere around 95% depending on the game. This is the expected amount in theory the game will payout over numerous spins. By recognising this casino advantage, it will act as a useful guide for when to slow the pace of your bets down, change game completely, or cash out your winnings.
Playing Strategies
Depending on the game in question, certain techniques can be used to minimise the house edge on a consistent basis. Although it’s impossible to win all the time at an online casino, sticking to a well-researched betting system can increase the probability of maintaining or increasing your balance.
The best example comes with blackjack, where common playing systems are accessible to all players via an online search. Although wins aren’t guaranteed, sticking with the recommended action will boost your chances of beating the dealer. An alternative strategy is to ‘count cards’ in order to predict the likelihood of the next value, although this is tricky to manage when eight playing decks are used.
Stay In Control
This brings us to the most important aspect of gambling online – staying in control of your emotions on a regular basis. After a losing streak or spell of bad luck, this is when the negative and impulsive reactions can take over your usual pattern of play, thus leading to poor decisions and excessive bets.
Remember that losing should be expected at some point when playing at any type of casino. By maintaining your composure in these moments and remembering most games are based on chance, not skill, this will help you reflect on the situation and curtail bad decisions.
It’s important not to ‘chase losses’ by placing overly elaborate bets, no matter your current financial position. This is a misguided belief that you must win back lost money at all costs, potentially leading to significant losses if your bad streak persists. Likewise, betting more than you can afford, borrowing funds to gamble, or playing under the influence of alcohol are major red flags.