Roulette, Poker, Cards Among Most Popular Casino Games

Millions of people daily seek out the thrill and cash return of gambling. Thanks to the Internet, people can play anywhere at anytime using their computers. Online casino gambling sites, however, mimic the games and thrills that occur in physical casinos around the world.

The most popular games have included games of pure chance, such as roulette and Keno. Roulette involves betting on which number a small ball will hand on after it rolls around a spinning wheel. There are two versions of Roulette, European and American. The difference is that American roulette has an additional number, 00, which increases the odds of losing from one in 37 to one in 38. (Gambling probabilities are always expressed in the likelihood of losing, not winning). A one-point difference may be small, but it vastly affects the chances of losing at this popular game, even with the most effective betting strategy.

Card games are among the most popular casino games. Two among these high-stakes games are Blackjack and a variation of Poker known as Texas Hold 'Em.

The object of Blackjack is to gain a hand of cards totaling 21, or the highest total among all the players in the game, including the dealer. Numerical values are assigned to each card, with an automatic win being that of a Jack and an Ace. The Jack is worth 10 and the Ace can be worth either 1 or 11, meaning that in this combination it's worth 11 points to win the game.

Arcane strategies have long been employed to win at Blackjack, which has a very low probability of winning. In addition to basic strategy, such as not taking more cards or "standing" on certain card combinations, some veterans have gone to the trouble to learn various methods of "card counting" in order to estimate their chances of winning by the number of cards remaining in play. Casinos view card counting as cheating, so when it's used, players do so without calling attention to it.

Texas Hold 'Em Poker has become one of the most popular casino games ever, thanks to televised tournaments and promotion by casinos themselves. The object of this game is to build the best five-card hand possible using each player's two "pocket" or "hole" cards dealt face down and the five cards laid out face up on the table, or board.

The key to winning this game is the player's ability to "bluff" or trick other opponents into thinking he or she has a winning hand, whether that's true or not. Thus the game involves a high level of psychological skill as while as betting strategy and knowledge of the hierarchy of winning hands in Poker.