Most Gamblers Need a Good Guide when Stepping into the Online Casino Space

The house always wins, or so the saying goes. But as any long-time professional gambler will tell you, if you pick the right games and play the right way, you can consistently walk away with a profit. Whether that profit comes as a result of breaking even and then collecting a loyalty perk, or from securing a big win, it doesn’t matter, because what matters is that you don’t lose.

You could be forgiven for thinking that casinos hate gamblers that play it safe and walk away with a profit, and to an extent, you’d be right. But in the long-run, it doesn’t really matter, because the casino knows that for every experienced person that wins big, another 10, 20, or even 100 casual players will lose most of their money. 

Why Gamblers Need a Good Guide

One of the most common strategies used in online casinos is something known as the Gambler’s Fallacy. Typically, it goes by another name, but this is generally how it’s best known.

The gambler’s fallacy dictates that if the Roulette wheel shows Red three times in a row, then Black is more likely to be the next result. To an extent, this makes a lot of sense. After all, if you had to guess at the result of four Roulette spins before any results had appeared, the odds of 2/2 would be the most likely, followed by 3/1, and with 4/0 being the least likely.

The problem is, once those spins have occurred, those odds change and the previous outcomes are no longer relevant, for the same reason that all of the spins that occurred before you entered the casino are not relevant.

If you flip a coin ten times and it shows heads each time, does that mean the next spin is more likely to be a tails? Of course not.

This fallacy, and many others like it, are used by casual gamblers all of the time and they show that the average gambler just doesn’t understand how odds and probability work. They often bet with their heart and not their head. 

If you have ever encountered a group of people betting on horse racing for the first time, you’ll see something similar. Rather than looking at the form, the handicap, the jockeys, and other deciding factors, they’ll pick the horse whose name means the most to them. If that horse wins or places, they’ll be forever indebted to that tactic and will continue using it for the rest of their lives, insisting that it works, because they only remember the time that it did work and forget all the times it didn’t.

It’s not just about ignorance, either, and you can prove this by considering the lottery. If you tell the average lottery player that the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 have just as much chance of appearing as their chosen numbers, they will call you a liar. Many of them will use the classic response, “If that’s true, why haven’t those numbers appeared?” And will be completely baffled when you remind them that their numbers, and the number sequences played by millions of other players, haven’t appeared either.

Sometimes, the human brain just struggles with big numbers and possibilities and casinos use this to their advantage.

First time and sometimes even seasoned gamblers need a guide for this very reason. It can help to spell things out and show them the clarity amongst the madness. Whether it’s a guide to Baccarat or a detailed analysis of poker hand values and Basic Blackjack Strategy, these casino guides can help.

Common Mistakes that Inexperienced Gamblers Make

To show you just how common gambling mistakes are, even when it seems like you’re doing the right thing, take a look at this quick guide:

1. Getting to 21

It’s often said that the goal of Blackjack is to get as close to 21 as you can and, as a result, most inexperienced players focus 100% on their own cards. They don’t pay attention to the dealer’s cards because they don’t see how they are relevant.

In actual fact, the dealer’s hand is just as important, if not more so. The dealer’s hand can tell you how likely they are to score highly, which in turn can tell you whether you’re safe settling on a 17 or 18 or whether you should risk it for a 20 or 21.

2. Aiming for the Jackpot

In Video Poker, many inexperienced players are tempted to aim for a Royal Flush, which often triggers a jackpot, when they have just two of the cards needed. It can make sense to play for such a hand when you have three of the cards needed, because not only do you have a chance of getting the Royal Flush, but a straight and flush is also on. However, when you have just two cards, and you’re sacrificing a pair or more to take the risk, it’s not worth it.

3. Not Understanding Expected Value

One of the most common mistakes that inexperienced poker players make it to focus entirely on winning the hand and to completely ignore the value that it brings.

For instance, they may make a call on a hand that they have just a 1 in 20 chance of winning, even though the call requires them to bet the entire pot.

It’s a careful balancing act. Sometimes, it makes sense to bet, even when the probability is low, other times it makes sense to fold, even when you have a good chance of improving. It also comes down to how much money you can win based on how much you are betting and what your odds of success are.

This is collectively known as Expected Value, or EV, and it’s something that all professional poker players know by heart.

4. Increasing/Decreasing at the Wrong Time

When a patient and experienced gambler is on a losing streak, they will often decrease their stake, play slower, and try to regain some of their composure. It’s an attitude that you see in top athletes as well, because they know how important it is not to lose their head.

But the opposite is true for inexperienced gamblers. They will often increase their stakes when they are losing and then play angry. When they hit a winning streak, they will then decrease their stake, as they are paranoid that they will lose their hard-earning winnings.