How to Get the Most of Your Online Gambling Experience

Posted by Harry Kane on Thursday, February 20, 2020

It’s estimated that more than 10 million of us now wager regularly online, with virtual gamblers now contributing to an astonishing iGaming GGY of £5.3 billion (as of March, 2019).

Given this, and the amounts of money that we spend on virtual casino games and online sports betting, it stands to reason that we should look to make the most of this experience and everything that it has to offer.

If you’re anything like us, you may also be inclined to earn a return on your bankroll when playing online. So, how do you go about achieving these objectives and enjoying a positive gambling experience when gambling online?

1. Identify the Wide Range of Games and Verticals Available

The iGaming market has grown exponentially over the course of the last few years, and despite a recent decline, the industry’s GGY increased by more than 10% in the year ending September 2018.

The market has also diversified as it has continued to grow, creating a wider range of products, verticals and games for players to enjoy.

During this period, slots have emerged as the single most popular genre of game, growing to account for nearly two-thirds (or 64.5%) of the online casino GGY. Table games such as roulette and blackjack currently generate 15.8% of revenue, followed closely by card games (12.1%) and poker (5.9%).

We’ve also seen many of these games replicated in a ‘live’ casino setting of late, creating real-time and often high-stakes experiences across a range of online casino platforms.

Additionally, those of you who regularly frequent online casinos will have noticed a rise in the number of specialty games available of late.

These include online scratchcards and various iterations of lottery game, along with increasingly popular virtual bingo titles.

2. Make Your Choice of Verticals and Games

Understanding how growth has impacted on the iGaming market and the range of verticals available is important, as it enables you to make an informed decision when choosing how to wager your hard-earned cash.

There are two main elements to this process; as you need to select games that you enjoy and are ideally able to deliver an incremental return on your bankroll.

When it comes to the former, you’ll need to distinguish between fast-paced and slower games, while also considering the range of features and the level of interaction that they offer to players.

Slots can be incredibly fast-paced and feature-packed, for example, while video poker and similar card games tend to be slower, more methodical and ideal for players with analytical minds.

When looking to optimise the amount of money that you make through gambling, you should also pay attention to each game’s published return-to-player (RTP) rate.

This is declared as a percentage and indicates the average return on a £1 spend, with games offering an RTP rate of 97% or above likely to help you make the most of your bankroll.

3. Choose a Secure and Reliable Casino

The growth of the market has also triggered a dramatic increase in the number of online casino brands operating in the market, while the progressive regulatory framework in the UK has also enabled firms from across Europe to gain a license from the Gambling Commission.

While this increases the choice available to players, it can also make it hard to distinguish between operators and identify the best casino for you.

This challenge is hardly helped by the number of rogue casinos active in the market, many of whom have been attracted by sustained growth and a constantly rising GGY.

Given that not all online casinos have been created equal, you’ll need to search for secure and reputable operators that are fully licensed by the Gambling Commission and able to operate legally in the UK.

Ideally, online casinos should also offer 128-bit SSL website encryption as a minimum standard, as this helps to protect your personal data and the integrity of your various financial transactions.

In addition to identifying secure and regulated sites, you should give priority to open and transparent operators that pride themselves on the quality of customer service that they offer.

Customer service should also be accessible and available across a number of different channels, enabling you to resolve problems and queries as quickly as possible.

4. Understand the Impact of the House Edge and Relevant Rules

We spoke earlier about the RTP rate, and this also shares a directly link with the so-called ‘house edge’ associated with online casino games.

The house edge refers to the mathematical advantage held by the operator across each specific game, and essentially offers an assured percentage return to the casino over an extended period of time.

While this figure isn’t always displayed by operators, you can calculate a game’s house edge by deducting the RTP rate from a figure of 100%. So, if you’re playing a certified online slot with an RTP rate of 98%, the house edge for this particular game is 2%.

Understanding the house edge can lead to more informed decision making, while taking the time to analyse game rules has a similar effect.

This is particularly important in the iGaming realm, where there are various iterations of popular games such as blackjack, roulette and poker. Many of these have a unique set of rules that can be either advantageous or oppressive to players, with some versions of blackjack offering a relevant case in point.

After all, some blackjack variations require the deal to hit on a ‘soft’ 17 (which includes an Ace). This is relatively unusual, and why it may seem like a small rule change studies have shown that it actively increases the house edge against the player by around 0.2% overall.

5. Manage Your Bankroll With a Viable Betting Strategy

When starting out as a novice online casino player, we’d recommend sticking to one vertical and genre of game wherever possible.

The reason for this is simple; as it simplifies the process of managing your bankroll and developing a viable betting strategy that helps you to make the most of your money.

If you’re a fan of table games such as roulette, for example, you can use both negative and positive progression strategies to manage your bets.

These require you to increase your stake by a fixed amount with each consecutive loss or win respectively, although this type of strategy is typically deployed by risk-averse players with a larger than average bankroll.

Instead, you should look to adopt a relatively modest and betting level and apply this consistently over time, taking into your account your total bankroll and the length of time you intend to play for.

With games like roulette, basic strategy also dictates that you should cover as much of the board as possible, by prioritising ‘outside’ and even money bets that increase your chances of winning on every spin.

This type of strategic thinking not only helps to thrive in games of skill, but it also ensures that you manage your bankroll effectively and over an extended period of time.