We're not talking here about how to play a specific game.
There are loads of sites that can give you the best strategy
for blackjack or video poker. Instead, we want to show
you how by changing your betting strategy you can make
your bank account a lot healthier.
Firstly - don't fall into the bonus trap!
It may seem
wonderful to get a free 10 or 20 percent from an UK online casino, but this can be the most expensive money you ever
got. The reason: It comes with a proviso that you have
to play it a certain number of times before you can cash
in.
With especially generous (and increasingly rare) bonuses
this is fine. If a casino is offering you a 100% sign
up bonus and only requires you to play it three times,
take it. More often, however, the bonus is much smaller
and the playing requirements much higher.
What's wrong with this? Let's say you deposit £100
and you get a £20 bonus. In this case the casino
might tell you that you have to play both the deposit
and bonus six times. In other words, you have to bet a
total of £720 before cashing out.
If you hit big early on -- let's say you are up £100
- you might want to quit while ahead, but because of those
bonus rules you can't. You are now risking your original
£100 plus your £100 winnings in order to get
that £20 bonus. When you think of it this way, it
doesn't make much sense, does it?
Also, ignore frequent player bonuses.
They're generally about 1/10th of one percent of the
money you've played. Why even think about a £1
bonus for playing £1,000?
The big trick in getting the jump on the casino, however,
is by managing your betting correctly. Any time you
play, no matter where, you are going to hit winning
streaks and losing streaks. Wouldn't it be great if
you could be betting big during those winning streaks
and making only minimum bets when losing? You can -
all you have to do is do it!
If there is one thing that casino managers
love...
It is a customer who doubles his bets when
he loses - using the Martingale strategy - figuring
that eventually he has to win and get his losses back.
This kind of player is a guarantee of year-end bonuses
for the whole staff.
Let's say you are playing blackjack and start at £5.
You lose the first hand so you double to £10.
If you lose that, you now have to bet £15 for
a chance to get even. If you win, you start over with
a new £5 bet. What does the casino stand to lose
from all this? Just the £5 you might win on that
hand.
But let's say you lose that £15 bet. Your next
bet has to be £30 and then £60, £120,
and £240. You just lost 7 bets in a row - not
at all uncommon - and you are now down £480. You
probably won't even be allowed to double that bet, and
if you are permitted to do so and lose, you are £960
in the hole!
No smart player would ever follow this route. Instead,
he increases when winning. If you chose an UK online casino
that allows £1 minimum bets at blackjack, and
you lose 15 bets in a row, you are down just the £15.
Now, let's see what happens if you have a small winning
streak.
Your first bet is £1. You win and are up £1.
Take a chance that a winning streak may be starting
and make your next bet £8. If you win, you are
now up £9. Increase the bet to £12, win,
and you are £21 ahead. Make the next bet £16
and you are £37 to the good if you hit. After
that, go to £20, then £30, £40, £50,
etc. until you lose.
Let's say that this time around you win 6 times in a
row and lose on the 7th bet. You are £87 up after
your 6th bet, your 7th bet is for £40, and when
you lose it, you are still up £47. You immediately
go back to £1 bets. You would have to lose 47
of them in a row be back to where you started!
Think you are ready to play?
Start playing at one of
our recommended Online UK casino.
