Which Casino Games Give You The Best Odds Of Winning?

It’s this uncertainty that makes playing games like roulette, blackjack and baccarat so exciting. But it’s also important to remember that they are genuine games of chance and that you’re at the mercy of the laws of probability. For centuries people have tried to devise strategies to overcome these, but the truth is that there is no strategy when you fate lies on the spin of a wheel or the turn of a card. It’s also why so many features of these games of chance play a role in other card-based games.

The one thing that you can control is the actual game that you’re playing. By their very nature, each one has a different set of odds that apply. So here are your chances across five of the favourites, all of which you should be able to find at the best online casino in Canada and wherever else you’re playing in the world.

The undisputed king of the casino game is slots. Fast and easy to play, there’s no need to have any real knowledge of the rules. You just choose the stake you want to play with and let those (virtual) reels spin.

The modern online slot has multiple winning lines and combinations as well as plenty of bonus features like multipliers and free spins. This means that calculating the actual odds of winning on each spin is mind-bendingly complex.

Instead, players tend to look for the slots with the best Return To Player (RTP) number. Given as a percentage, this is the proportion of stake money that’s returned in the form of winnings. This can be anything from around 85% to 97%. And, while it can’t guarantee that you’ll get this amount back, it gives a good overall idea of the sorts of winnings you can expect.

This is a game that has captivated players for centuries. There’s something about the drama of the slowly spinning wheel with the little white ball spinning in the opposite direction that’s almost mesmerising.

In terms of betting, this is undoubtedly the game with potentially the best odds of winning. This is because it gives you the option of a near evens chance each spin. All you need to do is bet on an odd or an even number or red or black. It’s not an absolutely 50% chance of winning because the ball can land in the 0 on a European table as well as in the 00 on an American table. This cuts your chance of winning to 48.7% on the former or 47.3% for the latter.

Obviously, if you go for more complex bets involving single numbers, or combinations of them, the odds of winning increase considerably, but you always have the simple binary choice as a fall-back.

Of all the card games available in a casino blackjack is undoubtedly the most straightforward. As you try to get closer to 21 with your cards than the dealer you are, on paper at least, on equal terms with the casino.

This means that the house edge, or the profit that the casino makes from the game, is a very low 0.6% of money staked.

You also have the chance to give yourself a statistical advantage by putting in some hard work to learn something called the basic strategy. This comes in the form of a number of charts showing what to do given a particular hand, namely whether to take another card or stick where you are.

All good blackjack players will have done their homework by memorising what to do – and one of the advantages of playing online is that you can have the charts by your side ready to refer to.

Baccarat is another card game, similar to blackjack, but the aim is to score as near to 9 as possible with your hand. Unlike blackjack it gives you the option not just to bet on yourself, you can even bet that the dealer will win a hand - and you can also bet on a tie. The tie is the least likely outcome so the house pays out at 8:1.

Betting on your own hand to win pays double your stake, on the dealer’s slightly less. But considering that there is very nearly a 50% chance of winning it does represent fairly attractive odds.

So, in terms of getting the best odds, roulette is probably your best bet, although the control in blackjack that knowing the basic strategy gives you also makes this a relatively attractive proposition.

And everything else is just down to luck.