The best way for any company to showcase their products is of course to give away free samples. You may regularly get sent through the post all manner of free samples this could be shampoo, toothpaste or even newspapers the list is endless.
However when that product is based online, such as a casino site, then you will find the majority of that sites games can usually be accessed for free and that will of course let you sample as many games such as Blackjack, Slots and Video Poker as you please without having to spend anything playing them.
This does of course result in one question being asked by a lot of online casino players and that is whether those free casino games have been designed to play and pay like the real money equivalents.
It is quite easy for an online casino game designer to bring out two sets of games, some extremely high paying free games and a range of lower paying real money games! However, thankfully all of the larger and established online casino game designers design both their free to play games and also their real money games to play and pay in the exact same way.
But do be warned that some casino game designers, and these are always those that are not well known or not licensed by an online gambling licensing authority have been known to supply to sets of games, and as such when you play their free play games you will often find you cannot lose when playing them, until of course you switch to playing their real money games where the losses start to mount up!
How to Check Online Casino Games Play Fairly
There are several ways that you can always be assured of accessing fair games no matter whether those games are free to play or real money games, and the first way is to ensure the site at which you are playing is licensed by jurisdictions such as Gibraltar, the UK or Malta, these jurisdictions require their license holders to have random number generators that work as they have been designed to and do not let their license holders offer two sets of games that play and pay differently.
Also you can check the actual pay tables attached to games such as Video Poker yourself to make sure that the free play and real money games are paying in exactly the same way, simply launch the free play version of the games and the real money games and then study the winning payouts attached to each hand combination, if they are all identical then those two games are fair and will play to the same payout percentage.
When playing casino card and table games once again you can check the payouts of the games on offer via both the free to play and real money versions, for example if a winning Players’ Blackjack hand pays 3 to 2 on the free to play games but pays 6 to 5 on the real money games then the real money game will have a higher house edge and will payout much less to players over the long term!
Checking Your Game Play
The proof of the pudding is in the eating in an old saying which you should always remember when playing online casino games, you should always be prepared to review and analyze your online casino game play whenever you have had regular playing sessions and this will allow you peace of mind that you are receiving fair paying games.
You can at any time request your gaming logs be sent to you from many online casino sites, and many casinos will let you access the results of all previously played gaming sessions at their respective sites yourself via an online log in, such as Microgaming’s Play Check facility.
Always be prepared to see just how much you have won and lost and what the house edge and payout percentages you have been receiving when playing casino games online, for it is often the case that you are getting a much better RTP than you may thought you have had, even when you have experienced a losing session!
Bonuses and Expected Long Term RTP
One aspect of playing casino games online that can often cause confusion is when you are taking bonuses, for this will obviously allow you to have longer than average playing sessions. However, be aware that even though you will have an enhanced starting balance, the long term payout percentages and the house edges attached to each game will remain the same.
What is different when playing with a casino bonus and playing without one is that you are required to meet play through requirements, and it is the constant churning through of your bankroll that pits your firmly against the house edge of the game, and this will often lead to you losing that bankroll before the play through requirements have been met.
This losing of your bankroll is not a result of the games paying out lower than they have been designed it is simple mathematics, and as such be aware that using a bonus does leave you open to a much higher risk of busting out than playing without a bonus where you can withdraw any winnings at any time, without having to meet any play through requirements, nor having to give the casino a guaranteed minimum amount of action!
Conclusion
Gambling online is always going to have some risk attached to it, and believing that you are never going to lose is the downfall of any online gambler whether they are playing Bingo, Casino or Poker games, and as such always plan in advance your gaming budget and stick to it.
A fair set of games is only part of your online gaming experience. You really do need to know when the time is right for you to quit any session you are playing whether that is when you are winning or losing!
