The Biggest Secrets of Online Casinos in the UK
Posted by Harry Kane on Thursday, October 7, 2021
The iGaming market in the UK continues to represent big business, with this sector achieving a cumulative value of £5.9 billion in the year ending September 2020.
There are numerous reasons behind this sustained and marked growth, not least the growing accessibility of online casinos and the deployment of generous welcome offers that match your initial deposit up to a predetermined value.
There are also some fascinating secrets associated with the iGaming marketplace, many of which have a direct bearing on your overall experience as a player. For example:
#1. Blackjack Offers the Best Chance of Winning
Whenever you play online slots, you’ll see that each game has an associated return-to-player (RTP) rate that indicates how much you can expect to recoup for every £1 wagered when playing online.
For example, the popular Book of Dead slot boasts an RTP rate of approximately 96%, which means that you can expect to recoup £0.96 on average for every £1 that you stake. However, many online casinos, such as Betvictor often offer free spins for such slots, and such bonuses can definitely boost your chance to win.
Interestingly, you can also utilise this value to calculate the house edge associated with a particular game. To achieve this, you simply need to take the RTP rate and subtract this from a value of 100%, revealing the perceived statistical advantage that an online casino holds over its players.
If we apply this to the above example, we can subtract the RTP rate of 96% from a value of 100%, creating a house edge of 4% and placing this game somewhere between European Roulette (2.7%) and American Roulette (5.2%).
If we apply these mathematical concepts to all games and casino verticals, we can see that blackjack offers players the very best chance of winning overall.
The reason for this is simple; as most blackjack variants offer an RTP rate in excess of 99%, creating a competitive house edge of less than 1% and a highly competitive opportunity for players to make the most of their bankroll.
Interestingly, some virtual blackjack games boast an RTP rate of 99.66%, which translates into a house edge of just 0.34% and essentially creates a level playing field on which players can compete for returns with online operators.
Of course, blackjack is notoriously a game of skill, which requires both some form of numerical ability and a consistent and considered betting strategy. In fact, the very best players utilise advanced blackjack betting strategies to optimise their bankroll and subsequent returns over time, further diminishing the house edge and enhancing the overall RTP rate.
So, you may need to build some experience and knowledge of blackjack and your chosen variations before targeting these high value games for your benefit. Grabbing one of the best blackjack casino bonuses won’t hurt you either!
#2. There’s No Such Things as Patterns and Trends
If you’ve ever played at baccarat or roulette tables, you may have noticed one or more special boards that track so-called “hot and cold” numbers.
These monitor the “winning” numbers that are produced after each and every spin of the roulette wheel, and often deceive inexperienced players into thinking that they can pre-empt trends and patterns when reviewing an extended period of results.
However, this represents one of the great online gambling fallacies, as there’s absolutely no rhyme or reason to the results generated by table games, nor can players seek out patterns or trends through the detailed analysis of outcomes.
The reason for this is simple – the top new online casinos in the UK utilise advanced random number generator (RNG) software and algorithms to determine results.
Such systems are completely randomised and immutable, ensuring that the outcomes of each round or hand are standalone events that exist separately from one another.
Even if you do start to see one or more roulette numbers landing more frequently (or observe an interesting numerical pattern over the course of the most recent results), you should keep in mind that such trends are governed by chance and no way indicative of the results likely to emerge over time.
The key thing to keep in mind here is that you cannot control luck when playing at an online casino, and this includes the individual outcomes and results that are generated after every spin of the wheel or each hand has been dealt.
Instead, you’ll need to focus on the things that you can control, including your coverage of the betting board (when playing roulette) and precisely how you manage your bankroll over an extended gaming session.
#3. Max Bets Actually Pay Off
When playing slots (which currently account for more than two-thirds of the total iGaming GGY in the UK), you may be inclined to think that stake size is largely irrelevant during the course of gameplay.
This is flawed logic, however, especially as the amount that you stake and the number of paylines that you activate will have a direct impact on the amount that you can expect to recoup when landing specific winning combinations.
Not only this, but some slots require you to enact the so-called “Max Bet” feature that’s embedded within the game, which instantly optimises your stake size and the value of your bet. Without this, you may be unable to trigger a game’s lucrative bonus rounds or associated multipliers, alongside any free spins, money wheels and stacked symbols that may be in play.
This may also prevent you from chasing a slot’s progressive jackpot, which will only be made available to players who trigger the max bet option and are willing to flirt with the risk of increased loss in the pursuit of larger returns. However, it’s also worth mentioning that some of the top slots bonuses in the UK come with bet limits.
Just be mindful when staking the max bet at high variance slots, as this can quickly drain your bankroll and you may need to be selective when looking to wager over an extended period of time.