Table games are among the most popular offerings at casinos and online casinos. Unlike slots, which involve simply pulling a lever or pressing a button, table games usually have more choices when it comes to how to play and in what ways to bet.
Straddling the line between entertainment and gambling, table games aim to provide an exciting and social atmosphere, a buzz that people are willing to pay for. It’s possible to play table games at a variety of stakes, from very low to very high.
Physical casinos have to use their floor space well to gain the maximum profits, meaning there may be restrictions on what table games are on offer and the minimum bets you can make.
Online casinos have the biggest variety of game types and stakes, as they can offer dozens of tables running at any moment.
But what are the most popular online casino games?
Roulette
Roulette is without a doubt one of the most popular table games. It’s simple to play and offers all of the excitement that gamblers have come to expect. In roulette, the croupier spins a ball around a rotating wheel. The wheel contains 37 slots (or 38 on an American wheel). The ball eventually comes to a stop on one of these slots to reveal the winning number.
Before the ball is spun, players place their bets on the board by putting down chips on numbers or on special bets such as red or black, odd or even, or on sections of the board containing multiple numbers.
The payout on a bet such as red or black pays double. The bet is nearly 50-50, but the green zero number on the roulette board means that the house still has an edge. A bet on a single number pays 36-1, although the actual odds of hitting are 37-1.
At best gambling sites, roulette offers better odds than games like slots without requiring any skill. There’s no way for the player to impact the outcomes, as the spinning ball's final resting place is purely based on the laws of physics and momentum. This means that roulette is a game of pure chance. This is part of the appeal for many casual and seasoned gamblers.
Live roulette has also become popular online. This brings together the convenience of playing from home with the thrill of betting with a dealer and other players.
Blackjack
Up there with roulette as one of the most popular casino table games is blackjack. This is a card game that is played against the dealer. The player aims to beat the dealer’s score by getting as close to 21 as possible without going bust.
Players place a bet and then are dealt a hand. They will then have a number of options, the main ones being to stand or to hit and get another card. There are also a number of side bets available, along with the option to double or split certain hands.
Blackjack is a slow and steady kind of betting that offers more gameplay than roulette. Players have decisions to make and can choose to play their hand however they want, within the rules of the games.
There is also an optimal strategy for blackjack, which is the best way to play each hand depending on what the dealer is showing. Applying this strategy can bring the house edge down to less than one percent. Blackjack, when played this way, has some of the best odds of any casino game.
The combination of simplicity, chance, and a sprinkle of skill, makes blackjack a popular choice for players who want a bit more control over their betting.
Poker
Poker is one of the most popular casino and card games in the world. There are many different types of poker, although casinos usually stick to hosting Texas Hold’em games.
Texas Hold’em is different to other table games because players compete against each other rather than against the house. The casino makes money by charging rake on the entry fee or pots.
For this reason, poker is considered to be much more of a game of skill than other casino table games, as it’s possible to beat your opponents using a superior strategy to win the game.
Casinos may also run poker table games that are played against the house, such as five-card poker. These types of games have less skill and instead rely on chance to outdraw the dealer.
In any case, poker is very popular in casinos and online poker rooms.
Baccarat
There are lots of convoluted rules when it comes to dealing baccarat, but this isn’t something the player has to worry about. The dealer will take care of running the hand. The player only needs to concern themselves with whether to bet on the Player hand, Dealer hand, or a Tie.
This makes baccarat a very simple game to play, despite the underlying complexity. It’s widely appealing to Eastern gamblers and is popular in gaming destinations such as Macau, although it has also now become well established worldwide. You might not find baccarat at your local casino, but you will find it in Las Vegas or online.
Baccarat also potentially has the lowest odds of any table game, if the player makes the right bets. The Player hand gives a house edge of 1.24 percent, while the Dealer hand has even better odds with a house edge of just 1.06 percent. The Tie bet is the worst, with a huge house edge of 14.4 percent.
