Rules of Roulette

Roulette began in Monte Carlo and the French Riviera long ago for the rich but it can be found anywhere today. It’s a social casino game based mostly on luck but there is some strategy in the betting.

The object of the game is to guess which numbered pocket the roulette ball will land on once the wheel stops spinning. A roulette wheel is bowl-shaped and about three feet in diameter. The two main types of the game are American Roulette, which has 38 pockets made up of the numbers 1-36, 0 and 00. European Roulette has 37 pockets made up of the numbers 1-36 and 0. So, European Roulette has a lower house advantage of 2.7%, compared to American Roulette’s 5.26%. Because of this, European Roulette is harder to find in American casinos but it is widespread online.

Half of the 1-36 numbers are red and the other half are black. The 0 and 00 are green. All have a corresponding box and are included in other bets on the roulette layout, where you place your chips. The dealer, or croupier, distributes payouts and collects chips once you have put your chips down and the wheel has spun. Players have their own color of chips. Each table has minimum bets and table limits. Remember to get your bets down before the wheel slows down.

The roulette layout is complicated but you just need to learn the different bets. It has 48 boxes for red, black or green bets. It has 11 boxes on the border for special bets like red/black, even/odd and high/low. Inside bets are on individual numbers and outside bets are those special bets mentioned.

Rules of Craps

Craps can be confusing with all the different bets and the table layout, but the rules are simple and you just need a little practice to get the hang of it. It’s one of the most popular and social of table games so it’s a good one to learn at the casino or online for Internet gambling.

There are two roles for craps: a shooter or not the shooter. The person rolling the dice is the shooter. When you are the shooter, you want your first roll, also known as a come-out roll, to be a 7 or 11. Those are automatic wins. A 2, 3 or 12 lose automatically, also known as crapping out. Any other number like 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10 is a point and you keep rolling until you hit that number again. It’s called a pass-line point and you want to avoid rolling a 7 before hitting that point again. A 7 in this scenario is a loss and you pass the dice. A matched pass-line point is a win.

Those players that aren’t the shooter bet on the outcome of the roll, such as matching the pass-line point or not. One piece of advice is to not bet against a shooter on a hot streak. You can pass and skip your roll at any time.

A craps table can have up to four staff persons. The boxman rules the game resolves problems. Two dealers stand at either end of the table to take bets. And, the stickman delivers the dice and calls out wagering options. A puck keeps track of the roll with black side labeled off for a come-out roll and a white side labeled on for a point. When a point is established, the puck is put on the corresponding number on the table layout.

Craps is a steal as far as table games go with only a 1.5% advantage for the house. Each number has odds of 1 in 36. The odds of a 7 or 11 is 22%. The odds for a crap out is 11%.

Rules of Keno

Keno is a lot like bingo, but there are a few differences. They are both lottery-style casino games that are easy on your bankroll and based entirely on luck. But keno generally has bigger jackpots and a higher house advantage.

Keno originated in China. You choose one or more numbers from the field of 1-80. The randomly drawn numbers are matched on your card just like in bingo. However, each keno game is called a race. The payout depends on how many numbers matched, how much wagered and if it was at a special rate. Just like bingo, there is no real strategy to the game.

You get to choose between one and 15 numbers for each race. Twenty numbers are drawn, so you only have to match 15 of 20 numbers to get the jackpot. The jackpot can be life-changing, upwards of thousands to millions of dollars. After all, a keno jackpot is what saved the Griswold’s family vacation in “National Lampoon’s Vegas Vacation.” The average keno jackpot is $10,000.

When you match numbers, you mark your ticket with an “X” over the numbers. Payouts start at six matches when playing 15 numbers. The house edge can range from 22-50%, depending on how many numbers you bet.

There are two ways to play: a straight bet or a way bet. You pick individual numbers, up to 15, for a straight bet. The numbers are grouped into sets for way bets, which gives you more ways to win. Six selected numbers can be grouped into three groups of two numbers. It gives you four ways to win: a straight bet and three groups. It’s like playing four different tickets. Just remember to keep track by circling your numbers.

Rules of Bingo

You may think you know all there is to know about bingo. It is one of easiest casino games and can be played to fill up some time. Other games like blackjack and roulette clean you out in just a few minutes if you’re not careful. Bingo is a good game if you are gambling for entertainment. If you’re digging yourself a hole and gambling stops being fun, that’s when you need to stop.

In bingo, you match randomly drawn numbers called out to those on your card. If you miss some numbers, there should be a board of recently called out numbers so you can catch up. The numbers must be matched in a certain pattern on your card. It could be a horizontal, vertical or diagonal line. Other game options include four corners (of the card) or a pattern that resembles a butterfly.

This game isn’t limited to the bingo room of casinos anymore. You can find it easily online with different varieties or play electronic bingo at any station in the casino. Some still have the old-fashioned kind where you use a dabber, or highlighter, to make the corresponding number with a colored circle. Bingo has a field of 1-75. You have 25 spaces on a card: 24 random numbers and a free space in the center. The numbers 1-15 fall in the “B” column, 16-30 in the “I” column, 31-45 in the “N” column, etc. Just be the first to yell out “Bingo!” and you win after verification.

Five Winning Poker Strategies

Now that you know the rules of community poker games like Texas Hold’em and Five Card Draw, you need to nail down the basic strategies to read and beat your opponents. Poker is a skill game and these five strategies will help you gain an advantage over the competition.

Aggressive play: you start the wagering with an opening bet or you raise your opponent’s bet. This establishes dominance in the hand. Do it with a strong hand because if you overuse it, the other players will label you as a loose player and use it against you.

Bluff: tricking other players by betting with a poor hand. The goal is to get other players out of the hand. You do this by betting big to scare them off, even if they have a better hand. The odds of high cards in the hand dwindle as players exit the hand and your odds of winning it get better.

Check-raise: risky but lucrative strategy where you check with a strong hand. By passing to the next player, someone else will have to start the opening bet and then you can raise them when the action comes back to you. It’s like a slow play or a bluff where you deceive your opponents.

Protection play: opposite move of a check-raise. You wager a lot early to protect your hand and scare off others. It’s best done with a strong yet vulnerable hand like a pair of Jacks when there is a possible straight on the board. It protects your hand.

Slow play: opposite move of bluffing but also protects your hand. In this strategy, you are trying to keep other players in the hand by staring with a small bet. It’s best done if you have a high pocket pair for your hole cards in Texas Hold’em Poker. Other players will stay in just to see the flop. Then, you keep reeling them in with small bets until they are pot committed. Once they have put in enough chips to be pot committed, you hit them with a big bet and the hand is yours.