Free Casino Games — The Best Way to Start Out
Trying a casino game for the first time might be scary. You don’t know the rules, you are afraid to lose money, and you just don’t understand how you can pick one game to start with when there are hundreds of them in every online casino you come across. But what if I tell you that you don’t need to spend money to play online gambling games? The best thing a beginner can do before making a real money bet is to try free demos first.
Lots of newbies think that a demo casino game works exactly like the real one, with the only difference being that you are making bets with virtual money. No, that’s a myth!
Demo games have payout rates that are different from the real ones, they are much more generous. Of course, it is done in order to show the player how easily one can win and to make him/her deposit asap. So, are these demo games even useful?
My answer is “yes”. Try a demo game if you want to understand the rules of a game or to feel its mechanics. It is not a good idea to play unknown games for real money. So, again: play demos to feel the game, not to evaluate your chances.
If your aim is to check how lucky you are today and to evaluate your real winning chances, my advice is to forget about demos and to play real money games with minimal bets. This way, you kill two birds with one stone: understand the game better and rate your chances without spending much.
On this website, I collected free demos without download of all kinds so that you can sharpen your skills before entering the big game. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to add any live casino games demos because they don’t exist, but you can always join a broadcast without making bets — just to feel the vibe.
Steve Bourie received the following question:When receiving free money for slot play are the odds for using that money the same as real money. Example: I receive $25 for free slot play and insert it in a machine for play would the odds for winning be the same as if I used real $25 money. I never win with their money and needed to ask the question and if there is no difference would there be a law against doing it.
The machines do not differentiate between free play and real money.
They are both treated the same.
Steve Bourie
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Time to Play Online Casino Games for Real Money
When you are done with demos and feel confident enough to make your first wager, it’s time to pick a game for your debut. I believe that the easiest way to narrow the circle and make the best choice is to first define the goal you are pursuing when looking for a gambling game. When I was asking players in my casino, “Why did you choose this exact game?”, this is what they were telling me:
These are my evaluation criteria:
- To win big
- To kill time on low bets
- To try something new
- To feel the thrill
- To feel a casino vibe
- To get a bonus
This is what I now think of when picking a game for myself or giving recommendations when someone asks me which game to choose. Thus, I created a perfect method of game selection that has not let me down even once yet. Later in this guide, I will describe every possible purpose of playing casino games in more detail and give you my personal councils for every specific case.
These are the questions you should also ask yourself before making a bet. Then, you can either look for the answers yourself or pick one of the games I already selected for each purpose and play it in the checked and proved casinos from my list.
How I Look for The Best Payout Casino Games
If you open any online casino’s game list, you’ll see dozens and dozens of titles. New games are released every month, and it’s getting harder and harder for the players to choose the ones with the best payouts, especially when most of these games look pretty much the same. I’ve been there too, but everything became much easier once I developed my own way to select a game by answering one simple question — what do I want to get from a game today?
Casino games that let me win big
To understand why some games are more lucrative than others, you need to know two basic terms — house edge and RTP.
RTP, which stands for return to player, is the theoretical amount of winnings you can get from the game in the long run. If you see the game with RTP 97%, it means that 97% of your wagers are guaranteed to return to you as the winnings.
House edge is what’s left from 100% of your wagers. So, with the RTP of 97%, the house edge (or house advantage as it’s often called) is 3% meaning the casino would always get 3% of your wagers in the long run. But it doesn’t mean you can’t beat the house on a shorter streak.
To increase your chances of winning, it’s vital to choose games with higher RTP, which are usually slots. My all-time favorites in this category are Jackpot Jester by NextGen Gaming, Ocean Princess by Playtech, Ooh Aah Dracula by Barcrest, Pixies of the Forest by IGT, and 1429 Uncharted Seas by Thunderkick as all of them have RTP around 99%. I recommend avoiding slots like X-Men by Playtech as it’s RTP is 92% only.
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Online casino games with low bets
If you don’t play to get money, you play to have fun or to kill time. Online gambling is possible everywhere, especially since mobile casino games become routine. You can play while stuck in a traffic jam, in a long line for your morning coffee, or at a boring meeting. In this case, you wouldn’t be able to concentrate on a game properly, so it’s not the time for large bets, and it’s better to opt for the ones that allow minimum bets.
If I were you, I’d start with Starburst by NetEnt ($0.01 bet), Mega Moolah by Microgaming ($0.01 bet), Buffalo Blitz by Playtech ($0.01 bet), and 7’s to Burn by Barcrest ($0.1 bet). While the lowest bets can usually be found in slots, it’s possible to find some other casino games that don’t require large wagers too. For example, the minimum bet in Lightning Roulette by Evolution Gaming is $0.2 only.
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I love minimum bet games for their simplicity and that feeling of safety they are giving me (I can’t lose a lot if I don’t bet a lot, right?) but, like anything else in this world, they have their drawbacks too, and the main one is that you can’t win big when you don’t bet big. So, these games are nice to play but not the ones to opt for if you are aiming for a jackpot.
The newest online casino games
When you are a newbie, everything is fun. But once you gain more experience, the games you played before start boring you. If you feel like your favourite games don’t get you excited anymore, it’s time for the new casino games free — and as new gambling products are released regularly, it’s never a problem. I try to add new demos of the games as soon as they are released so you can be one of the first players to try it. As for now, the newest items on my list are Wild Shamrock by MultiSlot, Superman by Playtech, Pantry Plunder by Sunfox games, Gonzo’s Quest VR by NetEnt, and Hainan Ice by Playtech.
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Highest max bets: feel the thrill
If I’m in the mood to take the risk and rattle my nerves, I always open one of the online casinos and go straight to the games that allow higher bets. I understand that I can lose a lot of money if the luck is not on my side, but I also understand that I can win big if the lady Luck permits. My go-to choices that I can recommend are the Virtual Roulette by EGT ($40000 max bet), The Emperor’s Tomb by EvoPlay ($18000 max bet), and the Wild Wolf by IGT ($10000 max bet).
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There are also special high-rolling sections where you can find games with maximum bet limits up to $400000 like in the Furious Furry Friends by The Games Company or $250000 like in Video Roulette by Playteach but these are obviously not the games you play every day. Even I, with so many years of experience, rarely take a chance as losing several hundred thousands in just one spin doesn’t sound like a good idea. If you feel like taking a risk anyway, you can always sort my game list by Max Bet and see the games with the highest bets possible on top of it.
Games with the best casino atmosphere
Sometimes you just want to make a couple of spins in slots and get back to your business, but sometimes you feel like spending more time in a casino, watching the beautiful dealers and chatting to other players around the table. Luckily, there is no need to dress up and take a drive to the real brick-and-mortar casino anymore as live casino games made it possible to feel the real casino vibe in the cosiness of your own home.
When I want to hear the cards shuffling and the roulette spinning but don’t feel like going to a casino or don’t have one around, I always opt for one of the live games by Evolution Gaming such as Lightning Roulette, Monopoly Live, Side Bet City Poker, Caribbean Stud Poker, or any Blackjack game.
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Live-dealer games are great, and I love them a lot, but I still must admit that they have a couple of cons. First of all, it’s almost impossible to find a live game with bonuses and, secondly, they don’t have free demos for you to try before betting. But as their advantages definitely outweigh, I always include live-dealer products in the lists of my favourite casino games.
UK online casino games with best bonuses
If I had to name one thing that made me fall in love with online casino games over the land-based ones, it would definitely be the bonuses. Even though some brick-and-mortar venues hold promotions for their players, those promotions would never even come close to the ones you can find in an online casino. Like, have you ever visited a land-based casino that would double your first deposit as a welcome bonus? Me neither.
But not only the casinos in general can reward you with bonuses, but also the games themselves. And casino slot games are the most generous in this case. If you open my game list and take a look at the filter, you’ll see there is a separate Features filter with a lot of weird unknown words in it. As simple as that, they are all bonuses you can get in a slot. Let’s take a look at the most popular of them.
Scatter Symbol — a scatter symbol is a symbol you can get in slots that would trigger a bonus feature. The specific rules depend on a game, but in most cases, it’s something like “get 3 scatters anywhere on the reels and trigger 10 free spins”. My favourite slot with Scatters is Mustang Gold by Pragmatic Play, which is actually the slot with the highest number of bonuses I’ve ever seen in one game.
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Mystery Symbol — a mystery symbol that can randomly appear on the reels and change to any other symbol needed to create a winning line. To see how it works, check the Genie Jackpots by Blueprint Gaming.
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Cascading wins — to understand what cascading wins (or cascading reels as they are also called) are, you need to think of a good old Tetris. When you get a payline in a slot with cascading wins, the winning symbols explode and give place to the new ones falling from the above. Thus, you can get a bunch of winning lines in just one spin. A perfect example of the cascading bonus can be found in the Rise of Olympus slot by Play'n Go.
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Bonus Game — when we are talking about the bonus games in online slots, it can refer to one of two things. The first one is a free spins session triggered by scatter or other symbols, while the second one is a full-scale bonus game that is more similar to the video games than the casino ones. In most of these games, you’ll be asked to pick one of several symbols (keys, chests, ships, fruits, etc.) to win free spins, bonus money, or other perks. My favourite one in this category is Blood Suckers by NetEnt with a creepy “pick-a-coffin” bonus game.
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Expanding Symbol — when you get an expanding symbol in slots, it expands over the whole reel and turns into a bonus symbol, which immediately increases your chances of getting a payline. You need to see it to understand how it works, so try playing Starburst by NetEnt or Blue Wizard by Playtech to take a look at the expanding symbols.
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Something Else to Know About Casino Games
Now you know how I pick the games for myself and how I advise you to choose them as well. Generally, it’s enough to start making your bets, so if you already feel your hands itchy for the wins, you can open the game list, hit the “play for real money” button, and get redirected to the casino. But if you are a beginner who has never played gambling games before or a curious gambling connoisseur who likes to always learn something new, the second part of this guide is for you. Here, I’ll explain which casino games you can find in an online casino, who made those games, and what are the games you’d better avoid.
The Most Popular Types of Online Casino Games
Another advantage of an online casino over the brick-and-mortar one is that online casinos usually have many more games. If you are not a lucky Vegas citizen who has 24/7 access to the huge casinos with thousands of slot machines and game tables, you’ll be limited to a couple of hundreds of slots and a few dozens of game tables while any decent online casino can offer you much more.
But if you don’t want to get confused by all those slots, casino card games, scratch cards, and so on, it’s important to understand what the most popular types of casino games are and how you play them. I tried to describe every game as short and clear as possible, and you can always learn more by reading the rules of a game and playing the demo.
Slots — hands down the most popular casino game. It’s simple, doesn't require any skills or knowledge, and can be super-rewarding. All you need to do is to spin the reels and wait for the symbols to create a winning line.
Poker — a card game for the brave and skilled. It might take a while to learn the rules, but once you feel the game and understand how to create the winning combinations, you’ll be able to take part in tournaments and win big.
Video Poker - a game that is an “in-between” version of five-card draw poker and a slot. Unlike common slots, players` decisions might affect the outlet of the game.
Bingo — it’s a simple casino table game where you need to cross the numbers out of the table to create a winning line. Easy and fun, just what you need after a long day.
Blackjack — also known as 21, it’s a card game played versus a dealer. You need to get as close to 21 points but never exceed this number to win.
Roulette — when you think of a casino, an image of roulette is the first thing that comes to mind. A purely random game, roulette will give you the winnings if you guess where the ball is going to stop.
Baccarat — this card game is less popular than blackjack or poker but worth trying if you are ready to keep a lot of numbers in your head.
Keno — if you are a fan of lotteries, keno is what you need. The rules are simple: you choose numbers from 1 to 80 (in most cases), wait for the winning ones to be announced, and hope to win.
Scratch cards — these are the online version of the lottery cards we all know. To check the amount you won, you click on the designated areas and reveal the information.
Dice games — casino dice games are one of the most ancient gambling activities. Each dice game has its own rules so make sure you read all the casino card game rules carefully before you start.
UK Casino Games — Who Makes Them?
All of the described games are not made by the casinos themselves. In fact, it would take years for a casino to develop so many high-quality products. Instead, they are created and licensed by one of many casino games providers — the companies responsible for invention, development, licensing, and promotion of gambling games.
The bigger the online gambling market becomes, the more developing companies appear. Some of them are small and young, some are famous and have a long history of making games for land-based and online casinos. Some make games that can’t be distinguished from any other products, while the other ones have their own unique style that you can see from the first glance.
Here are 5 most popular casino games providers which make the games that are always fun to play and rewarding:
- Microgaming. The company has been creating casino products since 1994 and is known for its Mega Moolah slot that pays out the largest jackpots in the world.
- NetEnt. NetEnt creates all kinds of casino games, including the live ones, but is mostly known for its slots. Its Starburst and Vikings games have won many hearts and wallets with its high-end graphics and entertaining gameplay.
- IGT. The International Game Technology is a multinational corporation with offices based in London, Rome, Providence, Rhode Island, and Las Vegas. It’s one of the world’s best-known casino games providers, with more than 12000 people working on dozens of games every year.
- Barcrest. Barcrest might not the most famous name in the industry, but their games can be found in a lot of great UK casinos. With 50 years of experience under their belt, Barcrest creates amazing slots with high RTP, which is what I love them for.
- Evolution Gaming. This provider specializes in live-dealer games, and I must admit that blackjack by Evolution is one of my favourite live gambling products ever.
Of course, great casino game developers are not limited to this 5. You can see the full list of reliable developers in the Filter section of my game selection and use it to check the products made by a specific provider.
Blacklist of UK Online Casino Games — A Fly in The Ointment
Unfortunately, not all casinos are good and fair. When you are dealing with such a delicate matter as gambling, it’s hard to resist tampering with them to pay fewer winnings than they are supposed to or not pay at all. When a casino buys a licensed game made by a reputable provider, it makes it clear that it’s a fair one, and you can make bets there with no worries. Only such casinos are listed on this website, by the way.
But there is a second option. If you are an unfair online casino, you create or buy the unlicensed versions of games and tune up your Random Number Generator so that it starts working in your favour — and never in favour of a player. It’s impossible to win in such casinos, and that is why it’s so important to always check the website’s license before making a real money bet. Another way to spot a fraudulent casino is to look out for the weirdly huge bonuses with unreal wagering requirements. If you see a casino that offers you a $15000 welcome bonus with 2x WR — you can be sure it’s an unlicensed one.
My blacklist of unfair online casinos includes but is not limited to:
This casino treats new customers very badly, and the support team does not provide any solutions if you are having problems with their website. Moreover, your winnings might just disappear without a valid explanation.
The payouts are usually delayed there. This casino often cancels users’ winnings and blocks their account with no reason and explanation.
Their bonus program is made just to make users deposit more and more money. Affiliate companies of Unibet are tricky as well. Most of the complaints are about troubles with payout. The casino often declines withdrawal requests, and their support does not provide any help in such situations.
This casino often delays payments. Some withdrawal requests are canceled with no explanation and answer from the support. Their affiliate programs are dishonest.
This casino got to the blacklisted because of using unethical business practices linked with affiliate companies, including buying not objective reviews on sites
The support team behaves unprofessionally and does not care about customers’ rights. Their affiliate program does not allow users to earn money.
Not a trustworthy casino. I can’t recommend you to play there since I have received tons of emails with complaints about the ClubWorld service. The users say that every time when it comes to the withdrawal process, problems begin. I do not want any of you to experience the same, so the casino goes to my blacklist.
The affiliate program of this casino is completely dishonest. If you win some money in HighNoon, there is no guarantee you will be able to withdraw it. Users often complain about problems with payout.
Poor customer service and slow payout are the main reasons why this casino is on my blacklist. Good casinos do not make their customers wait for ages to get their money.
I have received a lot of bad feedback on this casino. I appreciate our players and therefore I cannot recommend this casino.
Final Word About the Casino Games
If you don’t like casino games, you just haven't found the one that suits you — that’s what I believe. During my journey as a casino dealer, I’ve met hundreds of people who didn’t seem to like what’s going on at a casino at all until they found the game they liked and turned into passionate casino players.
If you didn’t find yours too, start from the free demos to save your money. Look around, try playing this and that, and wait until something clicks between you and the game. When it happens, you are ready for real money action. Now adjust my list of casino games using the filters so that it meets your requirements — and may the luck be with you!
What games are played in a casino?
Most of the online casinos offer the same set of games as a land-based one would do, i.e. slots, roulette, card games like blackjack, baccarat, and poker. Some casinos also add keno, scratch cards, and dice games to their lists.
How to play real money online casino games?
Well, it depends on the game you choose! I recommend reading the rules of the game before betting and try playing it for fun at least a couple of times before you play it for real.
What are the casino games with the best odds?
Not all the games are the same when it comes to odds. When you play poker, for example, the odds of winning depend not only on your luck but also on your skills, so the odds might vary dramatically, while the Return to Player number of simple slot machines is more or less fixed. Generally, slots, roulette, and blackjack are considered to be the games with the best odds.
Which casino games are beatable?
Many people believe that it’s impossible to win in a casino, at least not in the long run. But I’m a living example of the fact that you can actually beat the casino if you know what you are doing. With a decent amount of time, skill, and effort, you can beat the house in one of the probability casino games — poker, blackjack, and sometimes even in roulette.
How to play casino games at home?
Thanks to the online casinos, there is no need to take a ride to the land-based venues anymore as you can make bets while chilling on a couch in your pajamas. All you need to do is to get yourself a reliable website (or pick one from my list), create an account, and start playing.
How to win online casino games?
The first rule of winning is to play in casinos where games are fair. Such casinos should be licensed by the UKGC and have excellent reviews from players and industry experts. The second rule is to try the game for free first to get the rules, start to “feel” the game, and understand when the payout is coming. And, finally, you need to opt for the games with higher RTP to increase your chances of winning.
What casino games are for free?
Pretty much any game can be free if you are playing a demo version of it. In this case, you are betting virtual money — as you’d do in any video game. The only exception here is the live-dealer games where real croupiers are involved. They can’t be played for fun though you can always join the game without making any bets.
At what age can you play games at a casino?
To legally play real money gambling games in the UK, you need to be at least 18 years old.
How to hack casino games?
If we are talking about real hacking with computer software used, it’s impossible and illegal to do so I’m not going to give you any advice in this case. When it comes to legal ways of winning the casino game — it’s all about concentration, meditation, and faith. You need to feel the game and be able to predict when it’s going to give me a winning spin. It took me years to learn how to do it, but, unlike you, I didn’t have a skilled and experienced mentor.