When you walk into a casino, the first question you should ask yourself is, “How much money am I prepared to gamble with?” But the very next question you should ask yourself is, “Which casino games have the best odds?”
It doesn’t matter how much money you bring to the casino with you. If you play nothing but casino games with long odds, you’re going to make it hard to win any money.
Let’s take a look at some of the games that offer both the best odds and the worst odds inside of a casino.
Best Odds: Blackjack
If you have $100 in your pocket and you commit to playing relatively small hands (think under $5 per hand), you can play blackjack for hours and hours on end.
Blackjack has turned into one of the most popular games at casinos because of how easy it is to learn. But it’s also popular because you’ll win about 49% of the blackjack hands that you play.
If you’re wondering which casino games have the best odds, look no further than the blackjack table. It’s the place to be for those who want to win money.
Worst Odds: Slots
Those visiting a casino for the first time are often mesmerized by the slot machines inside of it. They light up, make lots of noises, and give people the impression that they’re pretty much giving money away.
But this is not the case. There are some slot machines that offer decent odds compared to others. But generally speaking, the odds are astronomical when it comes to hitting the jackpot on any slot machine.
If you’re OK with losing all your money at a slot machine over time, it’s a decent way to spend an afternoon. But it’s not going to make you rich—or anywhere close to rich—in most cases.
Best Odds: Roulette
One of the other things people usually notice almost right away when they set foot in a casino for the first time is all the roulette wheels. People tend to gather around them to see where the little ball is going to land on the roulette wheel.
They also gather around roulette wheels thanks to the odds that they provide for gamblers. If you choose to play the outside during a game of roulette and bet exclusively on which colors will come out, you’ll win about 50% of your spins.
The odds go down a little when you start playing inside and betting on individual numbers on the roulette wheel. But even then, the payouts associated with those odds will more than makeup for it.
Worst Odds: Poker
We want to make one thing clear: Poker doesn’t always offer terrible odds. If you’re an incredible poker player, you can rake in the big bucks at a table filled with amateurs.
But if you aren’t that good at playing poker, you could very well be one of those amateurs getting your money taken by a more experienced player. In that situation, poker offers pretty bad odds to someone like you.
If you find yourself sitting at a poker table while on a cruise, you should know that casino cruises can be as high stakes as you want. But you should also know that those stakes shouldn’t involve poker if you’re not a highly skilled player.
Learn Which Casino Games Have the Best Odds and Play Them
Now that you know which casino games have the best odds, you should start playing them during your casino visits. Stick with blackjack and roulette over craps and poker (unless you’re a fantastic poker player!) and make money doing it.
Find out which other which casino games have the best odds, too. You can get away with playing games like craps, which also provides players with great odds.
Browse through the other gambling articles on our blog to get other great tips that will turn you into a better gambler.