Thousands of UL players are signing up on poker sites that you can play on any day of the week at any time of day. You can also compete against real live professional players to add that bit of glamour to the game, and on sites like Full Tilt Poker you can play against starts like Gavin Griffin and Daniel Negreanu. Loads of rooms offer professional players to compete against.

However, many poker fans want to go to a proper, live room once in a while to feel the proper interaction that you can only get when being against real players. However, despite dramatic leaps in technology over the years it’s virtually impossible to have a fully interactive service online, though some rooms do allow you to video chat with the other players during the game. But, if you want a proper poker experience your best bet is to go to an actual casino.

However, on PKR, there is a 3-D graphics system where players can control their body language and facial expressions and whilst this is obviously not the same as real people, it’s getting pretty close and it does give that touch of realism to the game for the players. Because it’s hard to actually get to a proper casino in the UK, or organise a game between friends, the way online poker has made it so you can relax in your own home and play whenever you want has revolutionised the way we gamble and play cards. This way, you can even get free food and drink and take a break whenever you want- you don’t even have to dress up either!

The most common type of football bet is a “full time result” bet, which basically means you’re betting on which team will win the game after the 90 minutes are up. So, if you bet on a match between Huddersfield and Barnsley, with bet that Barnsley will win, you only win money if Barnsley wins- not if the match is a draw, or if Barnsley looses.

Double chance is the same sort of idea, but means you can also win money if the team you bet to win ends up drawing instead. So, betting on the same match but with double chance, you’d get money if Barnsley won or drew, but not if they lost. Another way to protect against draws is an Asian Handicap where you can give one team a quarter of a goal lead, or more, to stop the chances of a draw- your bookmaker will explain this in more detail. Or, to be really protected you can have a ‘draw no bet’ option, where you get your money back if it’s a draw.

Instead of betting on the winner, you can go the extra mile and try to guess the score of the match. Because of all the different possibilities this is a very risky bet- but this makes the odds higher and the payouts higher. You can bet on either the home teams score, the away teams score or the draw scores. So, if you bet that Derby will beat Sheffield Wednesday 3-1, you win if that is the outcome- but if it’s anything else, you win nothing.

A more complex way of betting is on the half time/full time outcome. You bet on who will be leading at half time, and who will eventually win. So, in a match between Manchester united and Hull City, you could bet that Hull will be leading at half time, but Manchester will go on to win. If this rings true, you win your bet.

You can also bet on certain players scoring in the match and even bet on them scoring first, last or at any time in the match you want. Some book makers will refund your bet if the player ends up not playing, but check their rules first. In relation to this, you can also bet on the total goals in the match either over or under an amount set by the bookmaker- so, if the bookmaker sets the level of 2.5 goals you can bet either over or under that amount.

For those who want a little risk there is a scorecast bet- where you predict the first or last scorer and the overall score of the game. For example, if you bet that Beckham will score first, but Manchester will win and this happens, you win. You can also bet on how many corners there will be in the game either over or under the amount the bookmaker has set- again, this is very risky.

Created in China by Cheung Leung during the Han Dynasty, Keno was actually used as a sly way to get money from the commoners without having a tax riot evolve. Although this has obviously changed now, it’s interesting to see how it has stayed pretty much the same in terms of rules but as only become popular outside of china in the last 100 years or so.

Although they are similar to lotteries and appeared in Europe around the same time as these there is actually no definite link between the two despite them being almost identical. Because it was simple and fun it soon spread to America via Chinese immigrants who played it in defiance of the US’s strict gambling laws. They did this by marketing it as “race horse keno” despite it having no link to horses what so ever to avoid links with the illegal lottery games in the country at the time.

Keno is simple to play and you can win big money on small bets just by guessing which numbers they think will be winners. The Keno cards are numbered 1 to 80 and, much like a lotto you choose a set of numbers. Some casinos will only let you choose one, but others will let you choose up to 20. The more correct numbers you pick, the higher your payout at the end. So, basically, pick your numbers, pick how much you want to bet, confirm your play and wait for the computer to pick the numbers and then see if you’ve matched any.

On some online games you can even get the computer to pick 5 to 10 random numbers for you, so you don’t have to do it yourself or you can even preload your numbers and use the same sequence every time. Every number has equal chance of coming up, so it is all down to luck, but if you want to pick numbers significant to you, again, like the lottery, you can.

Whilst on the surface it seems like there isn’t much skill involved in mastering the game- after all, you just put credit in and press the button and wait for the pretty pictures to line up against the pay line. However, there is actually a lot more to it than meets the eye.

To play, you simply add credit to the machine to make the reels spin. All these reels are made up of different symbols or numbers which face a pay line. On standard machines there is just one pay line, but this can range all the way up to 20. When the correct combination of symbols lines up on the pay line, you win a set amount- some symbols are worth much more than others because there are less of them on the reel and it is much rarer for them to come up in a row.
You can play on three different kinds of slots: Classic, video and progressive. Classic slots are like the ones you see at most casinos in real life and video slots are basically the same, but have more complex graphics and options. Progressive slots (which can be classic or video) are linked to a larger jackpot win and every time you make a bet, a percentage of this is added to the overall jackpot- making it better for you to win when a lot of other people have been playing for a long time.

Glossary of terms,
Reels and pay lines: A reel is the spinner that the symbols are on, and the pay line is the line across the screen that the winning symbols line up against. Generally there is one pay line and three reels, but due to extra demand from online gamblers, many sites have more complex slot machines with new software to develop slots with up to 7 reels and 21 pay lines.

Coins and max bet: This refers to the maximum amount of money you can bet in one go. Most will start at around 20p and go up to around £3.50- the amount of pay lines will determine what the maximum bet is and how much you can win. So, if the machine has 3 reels and 7 pay lines, you could choose to bet £1 on each reel- making your max bet £7.

The game is played with up to eight players and a dealer- called a croupier- and you have two different kinds of Roulette, American or European. European Roulette has the numbers 0-36 on the wheel, whereas American Roulette is the same, but has a 00 slot as well. To start the game all the players place their bet either on the numbers on the centre of the table, or on the outside of the table. The croupier then spins the wheel, and wherever the ball lands, that is the number that wins.

Roulette is based on pure luck, and there is no way you can accurately predict where the ball is going to land. The way you win more money depends entirely on how you bet and how lucky you’re feeling. The less numbers you bet on, the higher your odds and the greater the payout at the end- but it also lowers your chances.

You can win 35:1 on a straight up bet by just betting on one number and then work your way down the scale with a Two number bet (17:1), Three number bet (11:1), Four number bet (8:1), Six number bet (5:1), notice there is no 5 number bet. In addition to these you have column bets and even money bets- where you can bet on a column on the table or can bet on it being red/black, odd/even or high/low. Because these bets have a much greater chance of getting you a win the odds are only 2:1.

The house edge can be important to play, as the percentage can change the type of Roulette you’re playing. In European Roulette the house edge is at 2.7%, whereas in American Roulette- due to the extra 00 slot- it sits at 5.26%. In an online casino depending on the rules the house edge will be changed to fit. This makes it important for you to investigate the rules and odds of the game before you sign up and start playing.

There are more complex rules in Roulette, including “En Prison” where some online casinos will let players take back half of their bet if the ball lands on 0 and allow them to carry the remaining half over to the next spin. But, if it lands on zero again, the player will lose their bet. “La partage” applies to the outside even money bets when they land on zero- but unlike “En prison” the player just looses half their bet and has no chance to re-spin.

As with most casino games, the is a certain degree of luck involved when playing Blackjack- but you need to learn the basics before you can begin playing properly. Knowing the rules and being confident in your game play will make the game run smoother and make it more enjoyable for everyone involved, and once you gain in skill you can start to be more competitive.

Unlike in poker, when playing Blackjack you are playing against the dealer- not the other players- and the basic aim is to get the total of your cards as close to 21 as possible without going over. The closer you get to 21, the better, and if you’re closer than the dealer then you win. You can also win automatically by scoring ‘Blackjack’ and hitting the total of 21 exactly.

All the numbered cards are worth their face value, whereas the picture cards carry a score of 10. Aces can be worth either 1 or 11 depending on the hand you have at the time- you can choose the value to reflect the score you want to have. For example, if you had a 5 and a 7 it would be wise to put Ace as 1 rather than 11- because if it was 11, you’d go ‘bust’ and loose.

Although the rules can seem a little daunting at first and a bit confusing, over time you pick up the basics more and more and can start to get into the main rules of the game and start playing competitively. Experience is the key, as well as luck, and the more you play the better you’ll become over time. Soon you can learn how to use strategy to work out how your game will go and plan it to your advantage.

There are many different variations of Blackjack depending on the game or the country you’re playing in- but the basic rules of play stay exactly the same, so you can easily switch to these rules without becoming a complete novice again.