Figuring Out the Best Casino Games for You

Figuring Out the Best Casino Games for You

There are thousands of different online casino games available at some online casinos, which makes it very difficult to figure out which of those are the best options for you. To help you to get the most out of your play, we want to show you how to figure out which online casino titles will be the best options for you in terms of your overall enjoyment.


Sorting Through a Plethora of Casino Games

One of the things that makes the online casino world so great is that there is a massive selection of titles to pick and choose from. If you don’t like one game, there are always plenty more to test out.

Unfortunately, this also means that finding the best games that you will enjoy the most can be tricky as well since there is so much to sort through.

An approach based on going one-by-one isn’t really that good of an idea, and here’s why. Suppose it takes five minutes of play to decide if a game is for you, and there are 1,500 titles available at a single casino. It would take you about 125 hours to go through all of them to figure out which you would enjoy the most.

That’s obviously not a reasonable thing to do for the vast majority of people, so we’re going to walk you through a different way to try to figure out which titles you will enjoy the most overall.

The Elements of a Casino Game

As we get started, we’re going to look at the elements that make up a casino game that players may have a preference for one way or another. This is a simple list of things to know about yourself and your own preferences that will help you to get started picking out the games that will be the most fun for you as an individual:

  • Visual Appeal – Some games have a lot of exciting graphics, animations and even video clips. Others have none of the above.
  • Strategic Depth – You’ll find that the level of strategy required for some of these games can vary wildly. There may be no strategy involved whatsoever, there may be a moderate amount you need to know, or there can be a tremendous level of intricate strategy to work with.
  • Game Pacing – The pace at which some games go can range from being very fast to very slow with plenty of options between those extremes. Understanding your preference on this will help you to avoid getting irritated by the play not moving along at a pace like what you would prefer.
  • Volatility – The more volatile a game is, the stronger the swings are. However, you also get more opportunities for bigger wins compared to titles that give more frequent small and medium wins. Your preferences on volatility levels will really help you to narrow down games, particularly when looking at titles that are within the same genre.

These four points are really important to know before you start seeking out games to play, and we’re going to walk you through what to do with that information once you have it in front of you.

Visual Appeal, Graphics and Presentation

Some players don’t care about this that much at all, but for some, it’s everything that they want in a title. When a game has a tremendous level of graphics and aesthetic value, you’ll really enjoy looking at it and playing it if you’re like most players.

While it’s not necessarily a priority, it may be something that significantly impacts your ability to enjoy a game.

So if you’re the type of player who really needs a great presentation, here are some suggestions to keep in mind.

If you’re a slot fan who doesn’t care so much about strategy, then there are games branded from popular comic book heroes, television shows and movies that can really fit what you’re looking for.

For those who prefer table games or a bit more strategy, the live dealer versions of games like Baccarat, blackjack and roulette look amazing and can give you that aesthetic that you’re looking for.

If you prefer something that’s crisp and clean, non-live dealer versions of certain table games and casino poker titles can fit the bill on all of this as well.

Strategy and Learning the Game

If you’re the type of person who really likes to dig deep into the game and to be able to put effort into getting better that is reflected in your payout rate, then there are a number of strategically focused titles that might appeal to you:

  • Blackjack – High to Very High Strategy
  • Video Poker – High to Very High Strategy
  • Pai Gow Poker – Medium Strategy
  • Casino Tournaments – Medium Strategy
  • Casino Poker – Medium to Low Strategy
  • Craps – Medium to Low Strategy

With that having been said, there are also players who just want to get in on the action and play without having to dedicate time, energy and effort into getting better at a game just to get the best possible payouts.

Games that fall under that heading include most online slots, roulette, video poker or blackjack with auto-play features, Baccarat and plenty of others.

What’s interesting about the strategic question is that there is a lot of variety available even within a single genre. For example, there are styles of blackjack that are so complicated that probably no human being has ever lived (or will ever live) who could play every single hand perfectly 100 percent of the time. On the other hand, there are blackjack games that you can learn to play almost perfectly within a couple of hours.

Game Pacing, Atmosphere and Speed of Play

The speed and atmosphere of the game come together with other factors to determine its overall pacing, and that’s something that gets overlooked a lot when it comes to player preferences and enjoying the experience as a whole.

A lot of the pacing issue is about how seriously you’re taking it. If you just want to relax, then a slower pacing is fine. However, if you want a lot of action, then you’ll probably prefer a more intense pace.

It’s worth noting that most games move along at whatever speed you want to some degree because you can just wait between bets, but that’s not really what we’re talking about here.

Table games tend to have a slower pace than slots, but there’s some variation there as well. For example, with live dealer games, the pace will be even slower because you’ll need to wait for other players to make their choices for their bets, and when this is tied into the social factor of being able to chat, things move along at a not-so-quick pace.

On the other hand, you have games like certain slots that have very quick bets and that move along with a fast pace. With that said, if you play with a smaller bet size and use the auto-play feature, it can drop down the perceived (and therefore practical) pace of the game.

Volatility, Variance and the Swings

Some games are inherently more “swingy” than others in terms of moving your balance violently up and down a bit more than alternatives. On the other hand, you have those that are really balanced and smooth out the swings without your balance moving around all that much.

  • An extreme example of a game with a really low volatility is pai gow poker. A lot of the hands played are draws, and your account balance doesn’t move at all.
  • On the other end of the spectrum, there are certain progressive slots with very high levels of volatility, and the swings are definitely excessive.

The common approach to games with a lower volatility is to use a higher bet size, and the opposite is true when it comes to games with a higher volatility. This helps to take advantage of the inherent nature of the game without exposing your bankroll to too much risk.

Overview

Taking an inventory of how you feel about these four elements of online casino games can make it a whole lot easier to sort through the thousands of titles available to find what will fit you the best. If you do this, then keep a running list of the titles you try and what you felt about them to see what else you can learn about your preferences so that you can make better choices in the future.