While it may not be the first place in the US we think of for betting or gambling, Pennsylvania has a wide variety of casino entertainment available, with locations dotted everywhere from Philadelphia to Mount Pocono. If you're not already familiar with how casinos work, it's very easy to walk in unprepared, so we're providing you here with a quick guide to the most popular kinds of games from simplest to most complex.
There are many thousands of slot games out there, and while most will think of the classic fruit machine first when the topic comes up, modern versions come in a wide variety. The average collection of slot games at a casino can include everything from the classic with cherries and BAR symbols to innovative games covering everything from Ancient Greek gods to diamond miners.
These games come with advanced animations and special features and can look inherently complex, but the good news is, that very few of them have any controls that are too complex. Most modern slot games come down to controls for bet sizes and a spin button, with all of the complexity handled by the random number generator in the software. You can find a full breakdown of the system in this guide from Gamesense but 99% of the process will happen behind the scenes. Overall, slots are a great starting point in the world of casinos as they introduce the core concepts without worrying about strategy too much.
The next step up in terms of complexity is blackjack, probably the most famous card game for those generally unfamiliar with casino games. Variously called 21 or Pontoon in some areas, it is all the same game and a staple across every casino in the world. Played with a standard deck of 52 cards, the aim of the game is to end the round with the highest total hand value between yourself and the dealer, but without going over 21.
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The player options in a round are to 'hit' by drawing a card or 'stick' and stop drawing cards. If the hand total ever goes over 21 it's a 'bust' and the player loses the round. Like with slots, the draw of the cards is completely random, although there is little strategy to knowing which starting hands are worth playing and when is a good time to stop drawing. Recently, casino site mBit offered blackjack tips that go deeper into the formulas behind the game in more detail, but on the whole, it's still one of the simplest casino games thanks to only ever having one set of odds in play.
The famous wheel game is both more and less complex than blackjack at the same time. On the one hand, because the outcome of roulette is entirely random without any player input, there is no strategy as such in the game. On the other hand, roulette has a long list of possible betting options with different odds. For instance, betting on red or black would have almost a 50/50 chance of winning, as the chances are almost split down the middle. If you bet on a specific number, however, the chances drop all the way to 1-in-37.
The way it works is that the worse the chances are for the player, the larger the payout if it actually wins. The player can put down multiple bets on a single spin, but each bet will win or lose separately. Something important to note is that there are several famous 'strategies' for roulette, such as the Martingale strategy, but due to the completely random results of roulette, none of these strategies can be considered reliable winners.
Known as the king of games, poker is easily the most complex of all the casino games we're covering here. While it's also based on a degree of luck like the games above, much of the game comes down to both strategy and psychology. Where blackjack has a basic table of good and bad starting hands, a standard game of Texas Hold'em has an extensive algorithm with hundreds of permutations across the starting hand and first cards revealed.
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The goal is to have the highest value hand out of all players at the table, or at least convince them that you do so they withdraw early. It often comes down to the individual's ability to read their opponents and use psychology to their advantage. As the game requires strategic thinking, the skills gained in poker can be applied to life outside the casino. Ellen Leikind has taken this way of thinking one step further with PokerDivas, a business that shows women how to use poker strategies in their business endeavors, as explained in this article on NorthPennNow.com.
So hopefully, if you're venturing into a casino for the first time across Pennsylvania or anywhere else in the country, you're fully armed with all the knowledge you need to make a great start. Remember that it all eventually comes down to chance, but knowing the odds beforehand can go a long way!
