An introduction to the most popular casino table games

Casino table games have a long history and they can be great fun if you’re responsible and stick to gambling within your limits.

Due to the house edge built into all table games (with the exception of if you can pull off card counting in Blackjack), mathematically you will lose money in the long run.

That doesn’t mean you won’t win in the short term, of course. Nor does it mean you shouldn’t play them if you enjoy them. After all, all hobbies have certain costs associated with them.

Just make sure you have a budget and don’t go over it as you start chasing losses. You should be prepared to lose whatever money you budget for gambling in the casino. Just consider it the cost of your hobby. If you do return home with any money, consider it a bonus!

Of course, nowadays you can also play online casino table games from the comfort of your own home using your computer or even your phone. While this undoubtedly makes it easier to play, allowing you to play anytime you have a bit of spare time, it does mean you miss out on the atmosphere and ambience of the casino.

It also makes games much faster and this, in combination with the fact you’re just looking at virtual chips on a screen, makes it much easier to get carried away and lose more than you wanted. So if you do play online casino games, take care.

Popular casino table games

Common casino table games include blackjack, roulette, craps, three card poker, and baccarat.

Blackjack

Blackjack is the most popular of the casino card games due to the low house edge and how easy it is to understand the rules (if not the optimal strategy!).

The aim is to make a hand with a value as close to 21 as possible without going over.

Both the dealer and you are initially dealt 2 cards each and then you are given the choice to stand (not take any more cards), hit (get dealt another card), double down, (double your wager and get dealt another card) or split your two cards if they are a pair (each split card then becomes it’s own hand and is dealt another card).

You keep having the same choices until you either stand or bust (go over 21). If you bust, you lose your wager.

If you stand, the dealer then plays the same way until they either bust or hit a total of 17 or over. If the dealer busts, you win your wager. If they don’t bust, your hand total must be greater than theirs for you to win. If the hand values are the same, it’s a push and you get your original wager back. If your hand total is less than the dealer’s you lose your wager.

Craps

Another popular casino game and certainly one of, if not the most lively of all games you’ll find in any casino is craps.

Craps can be an intimidating game because it looks so complicated, especially when you look at the table layout. It’s not actually that hard to learn how to play craps though and once you do you’re sure to have lots of fun.

The basics of the game are that players take turns to roll, or shoot, two dice along the table. Players bet on either the pass line or the don’t pass line before the shooter rolls.

If they shoot a 7 or 11, pass line bets win and don’t pass line bets lose.

If they shoot a 2, 3 or 12, then don’t pass line bets win and pass line bets lose.

If they shoot any other number, a so-called point is established and the player continues to shoot the dice until they either roll this same point number again, in which case the don’t pass bets win and the same player continues to roll the dice, or they roll a 7, in which case the pass line bets win and the dice are handed to the next player in turn.

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