Online gambling is developing at impressive rates: valued at a ‘modest’ $70 billion, the global online gambling market is expected to surpass $100 billion by 2025, a mind-boggling 43% increase in a couple of years. The notorious COVID-19 along with the technological advancement itself only accelerate the expansion.

Live dealers, virtual reality, blockchain-based games…there’s so much to try at online sites, but the eternal battle between skill and luck is still there. No matter whether you’re playing at a world-class platform Energy Casino or a little-known hub, as long as you’re willing to stay on top of the game, you have to learn how to override the luck factor…or wait…is this even possible?

Well, though online casinos are not there to make you rich – quite the opposite – but there are still some ways to leverage your performance. Which ways? Let’s find it out along with Aleksandra Maj, a gambling expert from KasynoHEX.com.

Minimizing Your Losses at Games of Luck

The vast majority of games you can stumble upon at online casinos are games of luck – and you can only do so much about it. However, even though there’s no working recipe for breaking even – let alone constantly winning – you can still harness your game of luck by knowing its

• RPT (return to player), a percentage showing the expected payback of a game: for example, a slot with an RTP of 95% is expected to return $95 out of every $100 wagered on it. Now you might ask, how is it possible to win at all if the game pays back only 95%? Well, the trick is that the RPT percentage is calculated for an infinite number of, while the in-build volatility makes it possible to win up to millions of dollars. It goes without saying, though, that the casino will always remain in profit: whenever it pays millions, this means the casino has earned even more.
• House Edge. An alternative to RTP, house edge shows the advantage of the casino in the card, table, dice, and wheel games: for example, blackjack with a house edge of 1% is just as profitable as a slot with an RPT of 99%; in both cases, the casino enjoys an advantage of 1%.

No matter the bells and whistles, it’s only the long-term profitability of the game that should be factored. Even though there is no game of chance with a positive mathematical expectation, there are some slots and games with a fairly high payback:

• Mega Joker – 99%.
• Jackpot 6000 – 98.8%.
• Bloodsuckers – 98%.
• Perfectly played blackjack: a house edge of 0.5% or even lower.
• Perfectly played craps: 0.8%.
• Perfectly played baccarat: 1.06%.

As you can see, the main difference between games of sheer luck and games of luck with a skill factor is that the payback of the latter does vary depending on how you play – which is always good for masters and horrible for newbies.

Harnessing Games of Skill

The giant world of online gambling shrinks abysmally when it comes to games in which you are in charge of your destiny. Only two games allow you to beat the odds: blackjack and poker.

• Blackjack. It’s insanely hard to beat the dealer in blackjack: not only should you count cards perfectly – which is quite a challenge itself, considering the amount of patience and memory it requires – but you should also be able to find a casino with loyal rules. Nevertheless, there’s still a theoretical possibility to get an edge of up to 2.5% with the help of card counting.
• Poker. Texas Hold’em is the only game where skill beats luck in the majority of cases. Even though you can do nothing about the cards you get, by applying the maths, correct decision making, and some psychological tricks, you can be a clear winner in the long run.

To wrap it up, it’s worth mentioning that, regardless of the game you’re going to play, you can give it a go in the Demo mode, the option you should never neglect.

Disclaimer: gambling is addictive. If you’ve revealed symptoms of gambling addiction in yourself or your loved ones, don’t hesitate to ask for help at international – Gamblers Anonymous, BeGambleAware, GamCare, etc. – or local problem gambling organizations.