Five Casino Games for a Beginner, and What the Rules Say

The One Thing to Know First

A casino game is, by legal definition, not an even contest. Under British law a game offered as bingo must be "equal chance gaming", and the Gambling Commission's guidance quotes the Gambling Act's definition of the other category directly: "In this Act, 'casino game' means a game of chance which is not equal chance gaming". The test it fails is set out in the next paragraph: "If a game either involves a bank or is one in which the chances as between all those playing are unequal then it is not 'equal chance gaming' and cannot be offered as bingo."

The same guidance says where the inequality sits: "The most obvious types of banker's game are those (such as roulette or blackjack) which contain an inbuilt advantage to whoever is the banker (a house or banker's edge)." The Commission's consumer guidance gives that advantage its working name: "This is called the house edge, and it gives a measure of the percentage that a casino would expect to keep, on average, from each hand or spin, given normal patterns of play."

So the useful statement for a beginner is a plain one. A player's decisions can reduce a house edge. No decision eliminates it. In some of the games below there are no decisions to make at all, and in the one where decisions matter most the dealer still acts last. And a run of results changes nothing about the next one: "The odds of achieving a win in the current game remain constant and are not affected by wins or losses in previous games."

What follows is not a ranking by chance of winning. It is five games a beginner can read the rules of rather than take on somebody's summary. For the four table games the rules of play are published game by game: the quotations below are from Title 58 of the Pennsylvania Code, which sets the rules of each game for licensed casinos in that state. Rules differ between jurisdictions and between tables, and a specific table's rules are the ones that govern it. The fifth, video poker, is a gaming machine rather than a table game, and what a regulator requires of it is disclosure rather than a chapter of rules of play; that section is sourced accordingly.

Roulette: Nothing to Decide but the Bet

Roulette is the easiest game here to learn, because the wheel's layout is fixed and written down. "A single zero Roulette wheel must have 37 equally spaced compartments around the wheel where the Roulette ball may come to rest." The American version has one more: "A double zero Roulette wheel must have 38 equally spaced compartments around the wheel where the Roulette ball may come to rest." On either wheel the numbered compartments are "marked 1 to 36 and colored alternately red and black", and the zeroes are green.

The payouts are set as minimums by regulation. A single number pays "Straight 35 to 1" and an even-money bet pays "Red 1 to 1". The regulation then states what the green compartments do to an even-money bet: "When Roulette is played on a single zero wheel or double zero wheel and the Roulette ball comes to rest in a compartment marked zero (0) or double zero (00), wagers on red, black, odd, even, 1—18 and 19—36 will be lost." A straight wager is defined as a bet "that the Roulette ball will come to rest in the compartment of the Roulette wheel that corresponds to a single number selected by the player" — one compartment out of 37 or 38, paid at 35 to 1.

Comparing those two things is the whole lesson, and it needs no percentage to land. There is no decision in roulette that changes it.

Blackjack: The Game Where Decisions Exist

Blackjack is the one game on this list where a player makes choices that change the odds of the hand. The regulation enumerates them: a player who does not have blackjack "shall indicate whether he wishes to surrender, as permitted under § 633a.9 (relating to surrender), double down as permitted under § 633a.10, split pairs as permitted under § 633a.11, stand or draw additional cards."

Card values are fixed: "Any card from 2 to 10 shall have its face value.", "Any jack, queen or king shall have a value of 10." and "An ace shall have a value of 11 unless that value would give a player or the dealer a score in excess of 21, in which case the ace shall have a value of 1." The payouts are fixed too: "The certificate holder shall pay each winning Blackjack Wager at odds of 1 to 1 with the exception of Blackjack which shall be paid at odds of 3 to 2."

The dealer has no choices at all — "the dealer shall draw additional cards until he has a hard or soft total of 17, 18, 19, 20 or 21." — and that is usually presented as the player's advantage. The order of play is where it turns around. The player's decisions are implemented first, and only then: "After the decisions of each player have been implemented and all additional cards have been dealt, the dealer shall turn the hole card face up." A player wins only if "The total point count of the player's hand is 21 or less and the total point count of the dealer's hand is in excess of 21." or "The total point count of the player's hand exceeds the total point count of the dealer's hand without exceeding 21." A player who goes over 21 has already lost, whatever the dealer then draws. Acting first is what the house is paid for, and a good decision reduces that cost without removing it.

Let It Ride Poker: Two of Three Bets Can Come Back

Let It Ride is unusual in that part of the stake is retractable. "To participate in a round of play, a player shall place three equal but separate Let It Ride Poker Wagers designated as Bet Number 1, Bet Number 2 and Bet Number 3. Bet Number 1 and Bet Number 2 may subsequently be removed by the player in accordance with § 643a.11(b) and (d)." Bet Number 3 is not on that list, so one third of the stake is committed from the start.

The two decisions come at fixed points. After seeing three cards, "the dealer shall, beginning with the player farthest to the dealer's left and moving clockwise around the table, ask each player if he wishes to withdraw Bet Number 1 or Let It Ride." After the first community card is exposed, the same question is put about Bet Number 2, and "This decision shall be made by each player regardless of the decision made concerning Bet Number 1."

The settlement threshold is published. A hand that "Contains a pair of 9s or lower" loses, and one that "Contains a pair of 10s or better" is paid. Withdrawing a bet is a decision that reduces exposure on a weak hand; it is not a decision that makes the game favourable.

Craps: One Wager Is Enough to Begin

Craps looks complicated because the chapter authorising its wagers runs to dozens of separately named bets. A beginner needs one of them. The Pass Bet is "placed on the Pass Line of the layout immediately prior to the come out roll", and its outcome is defined in four lines. It wins if, on the come out roll, "A total of 7 or 11 is thrown." or "A total of 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10 is thrown and that total is thrown again before a 7 is thrown." It loses if "A total of 2, 3 or 12 is thrown." or "A total of 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10 is thrown and a 7 is subsequently thrown before that total is thrown again."

It pays even money — the paytable sets "Pass Bet 1 to 1" — and the regulator's own list makes the contrast with the long-odds bets visible: a Place Bet to Win on 4 pays "Place Bet to Win on 4 9 to 5". Learning the Pass Bet and ignoring the rest is a defensible way to start, because it is the wager whose rules are shortest, not because it is a way to come out ahead.

Video Poker: A Machine Game, With the Machine's Numbers

Video poker is not a table game and has no chapter of rules of play in a state gaming code; it is a gaming machine, and what a regulator requires of it is disclosure. The Gambling Commission's technical standards require that "For each virtual event, game (including bingo), or lottery, information that may reasonably be expected to enable the customer to make an informed decision about his or her chances of winning must be easily available before the customer commits to gamble.", and that the information available include "the average theoretical return to player percentage."

Three sentences from the Commission's consumer guidance on gaming machine payouts are worth reading before playing any machine game. On what a return figure is: "The %RTP is an average achieved over a significant number of game plays and not each time the gaming machine is played." On how not to read it: "If a gaming machine displays an 85% RTP, you should not expect to win an average of 85 pence for every £1 you stake during a playing session." And on the floor: "There is no minimum RTP on a gaming machine." The same guidance notes that "Gaming machines must make information available about their category, %RTP and whether they are compensated or random." Read that information on the machine, for that machine. A figure for a game is a property of that game, and often of that particular build.

What None of These Games Is

None of them is a source of income, and nothing above should be read as a route to one. The Commission's product design standards require that "Gambling products must not actively encourage customers to chase their losses, increase their stake or increase the amount they have decided to gamble, or continue to gamble after they have indicated that they wish to stop.", and its guidance adds that "written or graphical information should not encourage customers to try to win back their losses". That applies to a page about these games as squarely as it applies to the games.

The honest summary of a beginner's position is the one the regulations support. The rules are published, so they can be read. The payouts are published, so they can be compared with the number of outcomes. Decisions exist in some games and not others, and where they exist they reduce a house edge rather than remove it.

If Gambling Is Causing Harm

The NHS publishes a nine-question self-assessment, including "Do you bet more than you can afford to lose?" and "Have you tried to win back money you have lost (chasing losses)?", and states that "Treatment and support groups are available if gambling is causing problems for you." and that "You can self-refer to a gambling clinic near you." It gives the National Gambling Helpline number as 0808 8020 133, free, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In the United States the National Council on Problem Gambling runs the National Problem Gambling Helpline on 1-800-MY-RESET.