Different Types of Gambling
There are a lot of gambling titles in online casinos, so you can experience a lot of different emotions. Despite the fact that the outcome mostly depends on luck, you can choose the types of gambling in the USA that suit your preferences, knowledge, and skills the best. In this article, we’ll talk about various gambling categories, explain their differences, and tell which game is better for you depending on your personality.
What Is Gambling & How Does It Work
In gambling titles, you risk your money to predict the outcome of the game that solely depends on luck. If you guess right, you receive winnings; if you guess wrong, you lose your bet.
Even if you have a lot of data, it’s not possible to predict the result of any game of chance with 100% accuracy due to the fact that most of them run on a random number generator.
You should know the rules of any game of chance you’re going to play, even if we’re talking about slot machines where nothing depends on you. You still ought to understand how the specific game works, what mechanics there are, and what payouts you can receive in case of a win.
In general, gambling titles consist of 3 main elements:
- Bet. You should choose one of the kinds of games and a certain outcome on which you want to place your bet. This can be a spin in the slot machine, a certain action in the poker game, or the exact score in the soccer match.
- Outcome. After you place your bet, you need to wait a little to know the result. To some extent, the outcome is always random. Somewhere, the randomness factor is 100%; in other games, it is less. But you can never expect a specific outcome with complete certainty.
- Result. Depending on the outcome of the game, you either get prize money or lose. The payout ratio is determined by the rules of the game of chance. In case of loss, you lose money from your bankroll.
The gambling principle is closely related to human psychology and physiology. When we receive a win, especially a big one, our brain produces dopamine, the hormone of joy. And over time, our subconscious begins to associate gambling with pleasure.
Top Forms of Gambling
There are several main forms of gambling that have a common essence, but are very different from each other in terms of gameplay. They require different levels of knowledge, various bankrolls and skills.
Casino
First of all, gambling is associated with casinos because they offer the widest and most diversified range of gambling titles. The biggest online casinos provide you with thousands of games which can be divided into 3 main categories.
| Category | Examples | Features |
|---|---|---|
| Slot machines | Classic slot machines, video slots, jackpot slot machines. | They don’t require you to have any knowledge or skills. You have a good chance to receive prize money. |
| Table games | Blackjack, roulette, baccarat, craps, poker. | You need to study the rules before playing. You can implement various strategies. The outcome depends not only on luck, but also on your skills. |
| Live casino | Table games, game shows. | The live broadcast takes place in the provider’s studio. The RNG influence on the result is reduced. |
These games are available in different sections of the online casino website. Despite the gameplay differences, luck plays a huge role in all of them.
Poker
This is one of the most popular card games where you can make more decisions than in slot machines. Your success depends not only on luck and random number generator, but also on your skills and knowledge. In poker, your aim is to collect the strongest combination from cards that you have in your hand. If it’s stronger than the dealer’s combination, you receive the bank.
Hold’em
This is the most popular gambling type among all poker versions. Most professional and amateur tournaments take place in Hold’em. The gameplay is divided into several stages:
- You place a bet and receive two cards.
- Depending on the strength of these cards, you have to make a decision whether to raise the bet and continue the game, skip the move (check), or give up (fold).
- As the game continues, five community cards appear on the table in succession. 3 cards appear during the flop, 1 card appears during the turn, and the last card appears during the river. Between these stages, players make bets.
- If you have reached the final stage of the distribution, when all 5 community cards are face up on the table, the combinations of the participants are compared. If your cards are stronger than the dealer’s, you win the pot.
You can form combinations in Hold’em using any cards, even without those that are in your hand.
Omaha
This poker version has a lot in common with Hold’em. The order of distribution is the same, but there is one important difference: instead of two pocket cards, you receive four or five cards from the dealer, depending on the game type.
When forming a combination, you should use only two cards from those that the croupier has dealt you. You have to complete the combination with the cards that are on the table.
7 Card Stud
Before the advent of Texas Hold’em, 7 Card Stud was the most popular poker version in the United States. Today, it’s not so common, but you can still find tables for this discipline in casinos and poker rooms. The game is played in the following order:
- Each participant of the distribution makes a mandatory bet and receives two cards face down and one card face up.
- The player with the weakest face up card makes an additional bet: half or full. After that, participants receive one more card face up.
- The owner of the best combination of face up cards makes the first bet. Then the right to move is transferred clockwise. Another card face up is dealt.
- This continues until all players have seven cards: two face down and five face up. The player with the strongest combination wins.
There is also a variation of the game according to the Hi-Lo rules. In this game, the pot is divided in half between the owners of the strongest and weakest combination.
Other Types
There are more than 10 types of gambling in this category. You can find them in the Table Games and Live Casino sections of the gambling site. The most popular are:
- Pai go. Using seven cards, you have to make two combinations in two boxes. One consists of two cards, and the second combination consists of five cards.
- Draw poker. This is a five-card version of the game with the possibility of exchanging from one to five cards.
- Badugi. In this game, you can exchange cards just like in draw poker, but a different principle is used to determine the strength of combinations. You seek to collect a combination of cards of different suits.
- Video poker. You’re playing not against the dealer, but against a random number generator. Instead of the pot that is usually fought over, there are payouts with fixed odds for each combination.
Regardless of the poker version, you should always strive to collect the strongest hand possible in order to win and receive prize money.
Lottery
This is one of the online casino games where nothing depends on you. The outcome you receive is completely different; you can’t influence the winning probability.
The more lottery tickets you buy, the higher the chance of getting prize money is. However, investments also grow proportionally at the same time.
Different types of gambling in the lottery format are popular in the USA. Many of them aren’t available in online casinos.
Scratch-Offs
This is the simplest lottery in which you don’t even have to choose numbers. All you need to do is buy a ticket and remove the protective coating from it. When you play online, the ticket is virtual.
State Lotteries
There are many national lotteries in the USA, which are held at the country and individual state levels. In total there are several dozen of these games, including online ones. You can buy a ticket with a specific set of numbers. Next, you need to wait for the draw. Winning numbers are determined by a lottery drum or a random number generator. The more matches your ticket has, the bigger the prize money you will receive.
Raffles
Gambling providers develop slots, table games, and all sorts of game shows in which you bet on a certain outcome and expect the result. Wheels of Fortune are very popular.
You can also participate in various draws from providers and online casinos; cash rewards and various prizes are at stake.
Coin Flipping
Coin flipping is one of the oldest types of gambling entertainment which remains popular today. In this game of chance, you have to bet on the side of the coin which will be on top after it lands. The payouts for a successful bet are usually 1:1.
Sports Betting
In addition to gambling titles, many online casinos offer their customers sports betting. These websites combine the functionality of a sportsbook and a casino. However, keep in mind that you have to use separate bankrolls in these sections; that is, you spend different money on sports betting and casino games. In addition, these sections have different bonus programs.
Stock Market
Trading stocks on the stock market can hardly be called a game of chance; however, it has something in common with a casino, especially if you are not very versed in securities and market movements.
Others
Another interesting type of game of chance that you can find in online casinos is instant games. In them, you have to place a bet, after which a visual process starts, for example, the flight of an airplane, as in the Aviator game. The longer it lasts, the bigger the win. Your aim is to pick up the prize money before the plane crashes. If you fail to do so, you lose.
Odds for Different Types of Gambling
Before you choose one of the types of gambling games, you should thoroughly study the rules. First of all, pay attention to the winning chances. As you know, the casino never remains in the red and is guaranteed to receive income. But that doesn’t mean you can’t win. Due to the random distribution of payouts, there is always a chance of receiving prize money. They may differ depending on the selected game:
- In slots, the winning chances are determined by the RTP criterion. This is a theoretical percentage of return on funds, which indicates what percentage of the total investment the game returns to users in the form of payments. The higher this percentage, the better.
- In table games, your odds depend on the house edge. The rules of any game include a small mathematical advantage of the casino. For example, in roulette, it is achieved due to the zero sector; when the ball lands on it, any other bets lose. As a result, the house edge is 2.7%.
- In lotteries, live dealer games, game shows, and other forms of entertainment, the winning chances are usually less than in slot machines. These are more volatile and less profitable games that you should choose only for your own pleasure.
However, we can’t call slot machines the best choice. Despite the fact that they have the highest payout potential, losing streaks happen when you play them.
Best Casino Games to Play
If we’re talking about the most popular games in online casinos, we can highlight more than 5 types of gambling for USA players. Each of these games has unique rules and deserves your attention.
Slot Games
Slot machines are the best choice for newbies, because they don’t require any knowledge and skills from you. Their work is based on a random number generator, which determines the result of each individual spin of the reels. To start playing, you just need to launch the slot, determine the bet size, and start making spins.
Slot machines operate in accordance with the criteria set by the developer. Neither you nor the casino can influence them.
Despite the fact that all slot machines work on the same principle, the gameplay in them can be very different. They introduce dozens of functions and mechanics that make the game more diverse and allow you to receive prizes in a large number of ways.
Blackjack
This is the card game comparable to poker in popularity, but more common in casinos. In this game, your goal is to beat the dealer; you can do this in several ways. You can score more points than your opponent, or wait until they bust (score more than 21 points).
After the start of the distribution, one of the dealer’s cards is face up. This allows you to assess the potential of their hand.
To earn points, you need to take cards. Each of them has its own value. Pictures and tens give you 10 points, number cards bring you the corresponding number of points, and aces can be 1 or 11. Initially, you receive two cards; then, you can decide on further play.
Roulette
In roulette, you have to bet on individual numbers or their ranges. After accepting bets, the wheel with numbered cells spins. A ball thrown into it falls into one of the sectors after the wheel stops. If the number matches your bet, you win. The maximum prize is awarded if you correctly guess one number: in this case, the payout is 35:1.
There are 4 types of gambling: European roulette, American roulette, French roulette, and Mini roulette. The remaining versions repeat one of these with minor differences in the rules.
Baccarat
If you are interested in the fastest and most dynamic games, you can pay attention to baccarat. You aren’t directly involved in the distribution. Your task is to place a bet on the Player, the Banker, or a Tie. After that, the distribution starts. The croupier deals two or three cards to both sides, and the one with the score closest to 9 wins.
Hands in baccarat last no more than 10 seconds. This allows you to bet frequently and keep the pace of the game high. Successful bets on the Banker and the Player bring you payouts of 1:1; if you bet on a draw, you can receive a payout of 8:1 or 9:1, depending on the rules of a particular table.
Craps
Craps is a version of a dice game where you bet on numbers like in roulette. Your main goal is to guess which number falls first: a point or a seven. The point value is determined by the first roll of two six-sided dice.
Bingo
Among all types and examples of gambling, bingo takes a special place as the simplest and the most popular lottery in the world. To participate in it, you need to buy at least one ticket. In the ticket you will see several columns and rows with pre-applied numbers. After the start of the drawing, the presenter or the lottery machine determines the winning numbers. To receive prizes, you have to cross out the rows.
Keno
This is another simple lottery. In each ticket, you’ll find 80 numbers. You can choose up to 20 numbers on which you want to bet. The more of them match the winning numbers, the larger your prize money. The winning numbers are determined by the lottery drum or random number generator. The maximum payout is provided if you guess all 20 numbers.
How to Rate & Choose the Best Gambling Types
The huge number of gambling types in online casinos doesn’t only create a huge choice. It leads to problems for newbies and experienced gamblers. Among all the games of chance, it can be difficult to find the one that suits you the most. Therefore, we advise you to pay attention to two things when choosing.
Fun & Wealth
Since gambling is primarily entertainment, the game you choose should bring you pleasure. You should like it, otherwise it’ll be difficult for you to receive positive emotions. Test different gambling titles in demo mode to narrow down your choices.
Once you figure out what you like, take a look at the payout potentials of specific games. For example, different slot machines have completely different average and maximum prize money amounts, despite the general principle of operation.
Skill & Action
Some games of chance require you to learn the rules in detail and have certain skills, like the ability to quickly calculate odds and probabilities. A striking example of this game is poker or blackjack, in which every decision you make in every situation has a certain success probability.
If you are not ready to spend time learning the rules, mastering strategies, and working on yourself, choose gambling titles in which your experience doesn’t matter: slot machines, lotteries, and instant games.
Types of Gamblers
When dividing players into types, the classic classification developed by Professor Robert Caster is used:
- Professional. They earn a living by gambling (for example, poker). They don’t suffer from gambling addiction and treat the game as a profession.
- Asocial. These players are prone to cheating. They are attracted to illegal games and ways to deceive people and casinos.
- Random. They play for fun, but they do it very rarely. For example, they can buy a lottery ticket every few months.
- Serious. For these players, gambling is a hobby. They enjoy the process and bet regularly.
- Relief and Escape Gamblers. They play in the casino to avoid feelings of loneliness, to cope with stress and mental trauma. This type of player is vulnerable, and gambling can become a serious problem for them.
- Pathological. They are unable to control their gambling. They spend money on bets that they aren’t ready to lose, which leads to problems with personal finances, relationships with family, and others.
We want to remind you that gambling is entertainment, and nothing more. Despite the fact that some people manage to make a living with them, these players are an absolute minority. Most likely, you aren’t one of them. Never risk money that you’re not ready to lose and gamble responsibly.
