Blackjack is a game that's notoriously player-friendly. If you thoroughly understand the rules, and if you know how to make the right play, then you can dramatically reduce the house's edge and increase your odds of winning.

The rules of blackjack are simple. Hand-held blackjack games are played with one or two 52-card decks. Shoe games utilize between four and six decks. Blackjack tables can vary in size. There are tables that seat up to seven heads, and tables that can fit only five or six players. Blackjack can be played with a full table, but only one player is actually needed to square off against the dealer. The blackjack rules are the same regardless of the number of players.

Everyone at the table is dealt two cards, including the dealer. The aim of the game is to beat the dealer by amassing a higher hand total without going over 21. Your hand total is the sum of your different cards. Numbered cards have numbered values. Suited cards are worth ten, and an ace can be worth either one or eleven, depending on the hand.

If you are dealt a natural or a two card hand that has a value of 21, then you'll get paid 3 to 2 on your initial wager. After looking at the value of their hands, players must decide whether or not to hit, stand, double down, split, surrender or take insurance.

Hit

If you hit, you will be dealt an additional card that will add to your hand value.

Stand

If you stand, you're not dealt any additional cards, and your hand value remains the same.

Split

Splitting happens when you are dealt a pair. When your first two cards are a pair, you can split your existing hand into two separate hands. Each hand will be accompanied by a bet that's equal to your original wager. (Tip: Don't ever split 10s, 4s or 5s. Split aces and 8s, always).

Double down

Doubling down means that you are doubling your wager. In this situation, you announce that you are doubling down, and you're only dealt one additional card.

Surrender

Some casinos allow players to surrender hands. When you think that you've been dealt a bad hand, you can cut your loses, give up half of your initial wager and surrender the hand.

Insurance

Insurance is a side bet that you make when you suspect that the dealer has been dealt a natural. If the dealers up card is an ace, you'll be offered insurance before any further game action happens. (Tip: It's a good idea to avoid insurance bets, because the odds of the dealer being dealt a natural are slim).

Knowing what action to take and when to take it is the key to being a successful blackjack player. In blackjack, the dealer does not have a strategy. The dealer simply follows the house rules. Players have choices, and the choice each player makes is dependent on what cards they have, and the value of the dealer's visible card.

Skilled blackjack players must make use of the basic blackjack strategy. Basic strategy is a set of rules that you can play by that are mathematically proven to increase your odds of winning. Basic strategy is a time tested method. If you are serious about playing blackjack, then invest in a basic blackjack strategy chart. Once you've thoroughly practiced your basic strategy, you'll be ready to rake in the dough. Remember that the basic strategy is different for single and multi-deck games.

Once upon a time, to play a game like roulette, you had to go to a live casino. If you lived in the U.S., this meant a special trip to Las Vegas or Atlantic City. Now, thanks to the Internet, everyone has a casino in his own home.

All you have to do is log on to an online casino site, download the software and you're ready to go! (Please note that due to the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, many online casinos may not cater to U.S. players, although current interpretation of the law is that it is not illegal to play at the ones that do.

If roulette is your game, you're in luck, because roulette is carried by a great many online casinos. If you think roulette may be your game, but you don't know how to play, or aren't sure how it would work online, read on. The roulette rules are very simple.

When you click on the roulette link at your online casino site, you'll be taken to a virtual roulette table. The layout will show numbers from 1-36 as well as 0 and in American roulette, 00. The numbers alternate between red and black. The layout will also be ringed with side bets, with boxes for the first half of the board, the second half, the first, second or third, odd or even, red or black and any column. This setup allows you to bet on almost any collection of numbers.

How To Play Roulette

To play, just drag the amount you want to bet on the number or group where you want to place your bet. The roulette rules are basically all about the roulette odds and placing your bets accordingly. Depending on the level of risk you are willing to take, the higher you get paid off.

In addition to the bets mentioned above, you can bet on two numbers by putting chips in between adjoining numbers, four by putting chips in the center of four boxes, or six by putting chips between two numbers and on the border, indicating the entire line. Spin the wheel, and if your number, color, type of number or group comes up, you win! It's as easy as that.

Players are paid off according to the odds of your number coming up without 0 or 00 taken into consideration. For example, if you bet on a single number, the odds of that one number out of the 36 coming up on the same roll would be 35-to-1, so you are paid off at 35 times the amount of your bet if you win. The house edge is that your true odds are slightly longer than that, since the spin could also land on 0 or 00. If you win a bet on red, black, odd or even, you are paid at even money (0 and 00 have no color or type) and so on.

One of the reasons video poker is so popular is because it is relatively simple to learn and to get started playing. If you can play poker, you can play video poker, and you don't even need to play poker well, as long as you know the strength of hands.

Even if you don't know the strength of hands, you won't have a problem because they appear right on the machine. Here are the basics of video poker and a few variations you might want to try.

Unlike live poker, video poker is not played against other players. Your goal is not to create the best hand, but simply to have a hand strong enough to get paid with. A pay table will appear on the screen showing you how much each hand is worth. On a "Jacks or Better" machine, the minimum hand you need to get paid is a pair of jacks, for which you will receive even money. As you go up in hand strength, the payouts grow as well.

To play, input the number of coins you wish to play and press deal/draw, or simply press or click the "Play Max Coins" button. You will then be dealt five cards on the screen as in draw poker. You then use the buttons underneath each card to indicate whether you wish to hold or discard that card. Once you have selected which cards you wish to keep, press the deal/draw button again to receive replacement cards. If your new hand is stronger than a pair of tens, you receive credits according to the strength of your hand and the pay table. The video poker rules are basically the same for all variations.

Variations

The main video poker machine is the Jacks or Better machine, but there are other popular variations as well. Two of the more popular variations are "Deuces Wild" and "Joker Poker." In these variations, a two or joker in your hand can be used to make any card (the computer will determine what the best card will be). Although this makes it easier to make hands, the pay table is moved up accordingly, so you will need a stronger hand to get paid the same amount that you would get paid with a weaker hand on a Jacks or Better machine.

You may also want to try a progressive jackpot video poker machine. These machines offer a special large payout for making a royal flush. Every machine that is hooked into the progressive jackpot pays into the same pool, making for some tremendous prize funds. Of course, a royal flush is very difficult to hit and most players go their entire lives without ever hitting one, but if you do hit it, it can change your life. You must play the maximum amount of coins to be eligible for a progressive video poker jackpot.

As important with any game that you are sitting down to play, especially when it is for money, know the rules before you begin playing. The object is to make a hand with the cards dealt to you as close to nine as possible; a perfect hand is one that totals nine with the first two cards you receive. Eight is the second best hand.

These two hands are called natural hands. The only hand that beats a natural eight is a natural nine. When either of these hands exist, all bets are cancelled and no one may draw a third card. Aces count as one and face cards count as 10. When your hand equals a number in double digits, the first number is ignored and only the second number is taken into consideration. Players must stand on six or seven and draw on four or less.

How to Bet

The only real strategy you need to develop when playing Baccarat is deciding what type of bet you want to make at the beginning of the game. You can bet that the bank will have the best hand, you can bet that you will have the best hand, or you can bet that there will be a tie.

Betting on Your Hand

The first type of bet that you can make is to bet that you will have the best hand. This type of bet is sometimes referred to as a Punto Bet. To win this type of bet you will need to accomplish two things. First you will need to end up with the best hand either because you are dealt a natural opening hand, or because you drew the best hand, and secondly you will need to have bet that you would have the best hand. If both of these conditions are in place then you will win even money on your bet. However, if you bet that the bank would win this hand then you lose your bet. You should bet on your own hand to test the waters, and to follow winning trends set by the shoe chop. This is especially true if the shoe chops for the player four times in a row.

Betting on the Bank's Hand

In the game of Baccarat you have the option to bet on the bank's hand instead of on your own hand. In this can you would win the hand if you bet the bank will have the best hand and the bank's hand is a natural hand, or if they draw the best hand. In this case you would win even money on your bet minus a 5 percent commission paid to the bank. Some people are put off by the 5 percent commission, and as a result they don't bet on the bank. However, this is a mistake. In the long run the 5 percent commission doesn't make much of a difference if you are able to win a couple hundred dollars each time you win because of betting on the bank. For example if you bet $200 on the bank and it wins, you would receive $190 ($200 - $10 commission). That's still a 95% return on your bet, not a bad raking.

Betting on the Tie

The final bet that you can make is to bet that their will be a tie. Some Baccarat players claim that this is a safe bet to make, but others claim that this is a stupid bet to make. In general it is a bad bet to make. Although it pays 8 to 1 when making a tie, the house edge is more than 14% on every wager.

In craps, players place wagers on the roll of the dice. A pair of six sided dice are used in the game. The shooter is the player that tosses the dice. Every player at the table can have the opportunity to roll the dice. The dice are passed counterclockwise after each new round.

When a new round of craps begins, the shooter selects two dice to roll. The shooter must make a line bet (either on the pass line or don't pass line). Other players at the table also make bets. The shooter begins the round by rolling the dice off the opposite wall of the table. The shooter's first roll is known as the come-out roll.

The Come-Out Roll

If the come-out roll is a 7 or 11, then the pass line bet wins and the don't pass bets lose. This scenario ends the round.

If the come-out roll is a 2, 3 or 12 (or craps), then the pass line loses and the don't pass line either wins or ties (a tie happens when the come-out roll is a 12).

If the come-out roll is a 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10, then that specific number becomes the player's point. The dealers at the table then place a puck on top of that specific number on the table. The shooter continues to roll the dice until he or she rolls the point number or craps out by rolling a 7. If the point number is rolled, then pass line bettors win and don't pass bettors lose. If a 7 is rolled before the point number, then pass line bets lose and don't pass bets win.

The craps rules basically comes down to knowing which bets that are available and the pay outs for these different bets.

Types of Bets

Pass Line

Pass line bets are the easiest craps bets to make. When you wager on the pass line, you are betting that either a 7 or an 11 will be the result of the come-out roll. If a shooter rolls a 7 or 11 on the come-out roll, you double your money. If the shooter rolls a 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10 instead, then a point is established. When you bet the pass line, you want that point number to be rolled again, (before the shooter rolls a 7). If the shooter does hit the number before rolling a 7, your pass line bet is doubled.

If the shooter rolls a 2, 3 or 12 (or craps) on the come-out roll, then you lose your pass line bet. If a point is established and a 7 is rolled before that point value, this also results in a lost pass line bet.

Don't Pass Line

Don't Pass bets are the opposite of pass line bets. When you make a don't pass bet you are basically betting against the shooter. You want the shooter to crap out (roll a 2, 3 or 12) on the come-out roll. If a point is established on the come-out roll, then your goal as a don't pass bettor is to have the shooter roll a 7 before hitting their established number.

Come Bets

A come bet is like a pass line bet. You can make a come bet on any roll of the dice. Come bets are made after a point has been established. If a shooter rolls a 7 or 11 after a come bet is made, the come bet wins. If the shooter rolls a 2, 3, or 12 after a come bet has been made, the come bet loses. If the shooter rolls any other number, all come bets are moved to a smaller numbered box on the table. If that number is rolled before the shooter rolls a 7, then come bet wins. If the 7 is rolled before the number, the come bet loses. Don't come bets are the exact opposite of the come bets.

Don't Come Bets

Don't come bets win, if a shooter rolls a 2 or a 3 after a point has been established (a 12 results in a tie). If a 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10 is rolled, then a seven must be rolled before that number is repeated again, in order for the don't come bet to win.

All of this might seem a bit complicated, but once you start playing, you'll get the hang of it. Try downloading free craps games online so that you can practice and familiarize yourself with the craps rules and betting procedures.

Sucker Bets

The different bets mentioned above are not all possible wagers that can be made in a game of craps. The other bets, however, are known as sucker bets and should be avoided at all costs. Placing sucker bets when playing craps is a sure way to shorten your craps session aswell as your casino bankroll.