Is Casino Playing Luck-Based Or Skill-Dependent
A recent survey shows that one-sixth of online gambling in the world happens in India. And with the ongoing pandemic, this number is getting higher every day.
Approximately eight in every ten Indians participate in some kind of gambling activity at least once a year. This has had an enormous effect on the country’s gambling industry and with this rate, it is set to grow by 40% by 2024.
Online casino
To get one thing straight out of the way, every casino game to some extent has an element of luck in the short run. However, there are some casino games that also have skill elements.
Players who possess certain gambling skills and play casino games online that have an element of skill will be profitable in the long run. Sometimes it takes months and even years before a skilful player starts seeing some financial gain from a casino game that has elements of skill.
This phenomenon in the casino world is called variance and for the less experienced gamblers, it can have tremendous effects on their emotional state.
So, let’s take two of the most popular casino games and see if they are luck-based or skill-dependent.
Slots
Online slots just like their brick-and-mortar counterparts are the favourite game of gamblers. Each online casino offers hundreds and even thousands of online slots for gamblers to choose from. There are over ten types of different slot machines, and on average they constitute over 70% of online casino games.
There are four main reasons for the popularity of online slot machines:
- No skill required
- High payouts
- Attractive design
- Modern gaming features
As you might have realised from everything we said up till now, online slots are entirely based on luck. While newbie players often think that there are some correct strategies to be implemented in order to be profitable in this game, this can’t be farther from the truth.
If you still have doubts about the statement above, there is an easy and quick way to check. Just visit your favourite online casino, pick your favourite online slot machines, and check the RTP percentage (Return to players).
You see if slots had any element of skill involved, online casinos wouldn’t be able to calculate this percentage because it would be different for every player based on his skill. If you decide to try out your luck on slot machines, you should look for the slots with an RTP in the upper 90s.
Poker
When it comes to poker, all of the things we mention in this text will refer to the two most popular poker variants: Texas Hold’em and Omaha.
In the last twenty years, poker has become one of the most popular casino games. There are a couple of reasons for this rise in popularity:
- It is a game of skill
- Players can play against friends
- The rules are pretty straightforward
- Much more interesting than table games
- Everybody thinks they are good at it
- Myths about professional poker players
As you can see, poker is partly popular because it’s a game of skill. This means that if you implement correct strategies and make the right decisions you will be profitable at the game. These decisions are based on things like who are your opponents, what cards you are holding and game dynamics.
However, this casino game also has a luck element which will have a bigger impact on your bottom line in the short run. This means that even if you make all the right decisions, you can still lose money in the short run. This is the variance we already mentioned.
We understand that you might disagree with us and think that poker is, just like other casino games, purely based on luck. A fast way to check this is to search for information about professional poker players and as you will see a lot of them have had constant success, something that is not possible with games purely based on luck.
One more thing that you can do is to google for poker strategies online. You will see that a large part of poker gameplay is based on math and odds, something that is an exact science.
Conclusion
Most online casino games are based purely on luck, you can find online how exactly big is the house edge in certain games. This means that if you play these online casino games on a regular basis, you can’t be profitable.
However, there are some casino games, like poker, that have a skill element and if you have the right skill set or at least play against players who are worse at the game than you, you stand a chance to make a financial gain.
