Our attitude to gambling strategies is usually pretty straightforward: don’t bother with them, they’re a waste of your time. If someone tries to charge you money for a gambling strategy then they’re likely to be a waste of your money too.
However….
In looking around the gambling web we have found six counter-intuitive gambling strategies that might pay you dividends.
Whatever you make of these ideas you should never ever play in a way that risks your financial health or mental health. Play because you enjoy it not for cash, and keep a watch on how you’re doing and how you’re feeling.
So here we go!
Take a trip to Spain
Blackjack is the most popular online casino card game in the world. One of the reasons for this popularity is that blackjack comes with a very generous RTP. This theoretical return to player is not a guide to how your game will go, but the higher it is the more likely you are to get close to breaking even.
So if you enjoy blackjack we think that you should try Spanish 21 instead.
Why?
There are fewer cards in Spanish 21, which discards the 10s. This makes it less likely that you’ll be dealt a natural blackjack, but you will be playing a game that rewards you on ties at 21, and many of the bets pay better odds than their equivalent in blackjack.
For once, tune out the straight-forward RTP measure and try a more rounded approach to rating gambling games.
It’s also great fun!
Play your slots in a crowd
If you enjoy slots then perhaps you should consider restricting your play to tournaments. Tournament play is a feature on more and more online casino websites these days.
Players enjoy the social and competition aspect of the game played this way. And it’s also a great way to limit your losses.
Tournaments usually have a single entry fee, and if you win the top prize you’re likely to win many multiples of it back – better than many jackpot wins.
Try Going Outside in Roulette
Can roulette be played successfully? Well, this is gambling so much of this is down to chance, but you can certainly improve your long-term strategy by checking out a strategy that takes in two of the dozens.
Doing that gives you more chance of winning on one of your bets than any other bet. You’ll only make your money back but this is a fun and safe way to play roulette.
Put a poker in it
Video poker is one of the best-value games in the casino, both off- and on-line. Poker machines generally have an RTP of 96% to 99%, putting them above most slots for generosity from the off.
It’s also a great game with a long lineage, and unlike many electronic games, video poker has an element of skill in it that means you’re more likely to give each round of play some thought.
Take a break
There are a number of silly theories about the computer code that produces the random numbers that govern casino play.
Some sites will even tell you to take a break of a set number of seconds between spins. This is based on the theory that the numbers are always running in the background, and by leaving gaps you’re more likely to… to what? It doesn’t make any sense, if a sequence is random then it will make no difference where you interrupt it.
Taking a break between spins is good gambling strategy though because if you’re not playing you’re not losing. Players – and certainly sites – don’t like this sort of negativity, but we want you to be realistic, and to play slots if and when you enjoy it, not for cash. So, you take a bit of time, have a think, mess around with some options, or even better give your eyes a rest and look away from the screen and you’ll spend less.
The 2% rule for the 1%
One way to make your money last is to bet as little of it as possible. A popular figure is to bet under 2% of your bankroll on each wager.
That can be your bankroll as in your whole account, or hopefully, a safe limit you’ve set for this session of play.
It might seem like small potatoes, but a big win is still a big win with a small stake, and this way you’ll enjoy a good long session at the slots or card tables, whichever you prefer.
Do your French Homework
We’ve done your homework for you here because we can tell you that two fo the best value bets in any casino are to be found at a French card table, playing Baccarat, and at a French roulette wheel.
You surely know that baccarat has a wide range of odds on its bets, but if you rock up at a baccarat table and simply bet on the banker to win every hand you’ll have an RTP of around 98-99%.
This is an easy way to enjoy this game and get a decent return.
European roulette wheels have an inbuilt advantage for players, with just one zero. And French wheels should also offer you a la partage option that repays half of the sums lost when the ball does land in a zero.
So if you bet on even chances (red/black, odds/evens, top half/lower half) you have the best RTP it’s possible to get on a roulette wheel with the best chance of getting a win, and an option to claw back a bit of money on some lost bets.
The economy of fools
Most betting systems are a waste of time and money. The most popular is the Martingale and we’ve never understood why, because on a run of 5 lost bets starting at just £1, this system means you need to have enough to double your stake every time, which is 1 + 2 + 4 + 8 + 16 = 31, it’s literally exponential growth, so you need to be rich before you even start using this system.