You betcha’!
A couple weeks ago, I came across a winning casino strategies question on Quora that I thought would make a good post for my blog.
The question asked:
What are some strategies for winning in a casino with limited funds and no prior experience?
I liked this question because while I’m no longer an online casino player without prior experience, I am still a player who enjoys her games with limited funds. When I play, I rarely bet over a $1, typically keeping my bets between $0.20 – $0.50 whenever possible. I just don’t have loads of cash (or “mad money” as my aunt calls it 😂) to drop on gambling entertainment. I imagine that this is the case for the average casual/modest player.
I answered the Quora question with what I think are the most sensible winning casino strategies for beginner players with limited funds, based on my own experience. I’m going to expand on those same answers here (and include more) to explain why I find them effective. Specifically, why I find them effective for enjoying the games I play and for extending my play time for as long as I want/or my bankroll will allow.
Winning Casino Strategies for Beginners with Tight Budgets
Are you new to the online casino scene and only have a small budget? Here’s what I think are the best winning casino online gaming strategies for newbies with limited funds.
Just remember, no win is ever guaranteed when gambling, regardless of the winning casino strategies you use.
Understand the budget you have to work with and how you plan to use it
This one seems like a no brainer, but you’d likely be surprised at how many of us don’t have a bankroll plan before we play.
Before playing, know the total amount of money you want to and can afford to spend at the casino for the month. Next, decide how often you intend to gamble at the casino. Will it be once a month? Once every two weeks? Once a week? Daily? This will help you to manage your deposits. For instance, if your total online casino budget for the month is $50, and you intend to gamble more than once a month, you might want to split that $50 over multiple deposits instead of depositing it all at once.
- It ensures that you don’t blow through your entire budget in one play session.
- It gives you the opportunity to claim more than one promotion a month, as many promos require you to make a deposit to get the perks (e.g. bonus or spins, etc.)
💡Tip – When creating your monthly gambling budget, make sure it includes all gambling you might spend on for that month (e.g., online/land-based casino(s), sports betting, poker, lotto tickets, scratch tickets, office pools, etc.). Once you know the total, you can then divide it up among your different gambling activities, putting more toward those activities you enjoy most.
Create limits
Creating limits isn’t only important to stay in control of your gambling, it’s also important for a winning strategy because it helps you to keep track of your deposits and your bets. Most online casinos give you options to set a variety of limits on:
- Deposits (size and frequency)
- Bets (size)
- Time (how long a playing session lasts)
The more aware you are of your experience as you play, the better you can keep track of your bankroll and make knowledge-based decisions. Depending on the game you play, these decisions could lead to a favourable outcome.
💡Tip – I’ve found that setting win and loss limits also help me to keep track of my bankroll as well as helps me avoid running it dry.
Play games with low bet limits
If you’ve got a small bankroll and you want to make it last, games with low bet limits are your friends. If you like playing slots, this shouldn’t be too difficult to achieve. Many slots have low bet limits. Look for games that offer bets as low as $0.10 or less. Based on my own experience, most slots tend to fall in the $0.10 – $0.20 low bet range, though I have also seen those that are as low as $0.5.
As for card and table games, choose tables with low limits, such as low-limit blackjack games where you can play a hand for just $1. Similar to slots, low stakes table and card games give you a shot of playing for longer. The longer you play, the more winning opportunities you have.
💡Tip – keep in mind that when you first load a game, it’s usually not on the lowest bet amount. I’ve made the mistake of playing automatically, assuming a slot was on the lowest bet, only to discover after a few spins that I was making $2 bets instead of $0.20! 😱 Make sure you check and set the bet amount you want before you play.
Play low, medium-low or medium volatility slots
A slot’s volatility matters to its payout size and frequency. Typically, high volatility slots give the best size payout, but these payouts don’t occur too often on average. In other words, you could literally play hundreds of spins without triggering a bonus feature or significant win. In such a circumstance, you can easily bleed through your bankroll, which won’t take long if it’s not the largest to begin with.
Due to the greater risk factor associated with high volatility slots, they’re not the best for inexperienced players, especially those with limited funds. It’s better to stick with low volatlity, low-medium volatility, or medium volatility slots. Payouts might not be as large for these variances, but they occur more regularly. My personal favourite is low-medium volatility, which I find offers regular payouts and the occasional larger win.
💡Tip – If you’re not sure where to find a slot’s volatility, it’s often listed in the paytable. If you’re still having no luck tracking it down, I find a simple online search of a game review or visiting the game provider’s site will help you find the answer quickly.
Play games with high RTP
The general rule when it comes to the best winning casino online strategies – whether you have limited funds or not – is to choose games with high RTP (Return to Player).
RTP is represented as a percentage and is a game’s theoretical return to players over its lifetime. In essence, the higher the RTP, the more frequent a game is likely to payout over the long term. Games with lower RTP usually payout less frequently but when they do payout, it’s usually much larger, which is why many progressive jackpot slots have lower RTPs.
Typically, slots with 96% RTP or higher are considered a good choice. As for table and card games, they’re all pretty decent in the RTP department. Blackjack is usually the best of the bunch, with the average game sporting RTPs of about 99.5% (with different variations having different RTPs, of course).
💡Tip – For a more detailed explanation about RTP, check out my post on slots terms.
Avoid gamble and buy bonus features in slots
Another winning casino slots strategy I’ve learned is to avoid getting suckered into game features that seem like they’d provide you with a chance to win more. Examples include:
- Gamble feature (which isn’t available in Ontario anyway) – After landing a win, you’re given the option to collect your payout or potentially boost it in a heads-or-tails style game. If you guess right, you double your win, if you guess wrong, you lose it all (including the money you got from your winning spin).
- Buy Free Spins/Bonus” feature – You purchase the bonus round for a certain amount (usually 100x your current total bet), which takes you directly to the feature.
- Double Chance to Win feature – An ante bet feature where you spend a bit more to double your chances of winning and/or triggering the bonus feature.
The reason to avoid them is simple. More often than not, you’ll end up losing more than you’ll get back.
💡Tip – I’ve learned it’s better to just take may chances sticking to the core game. Always remember, the casino doesn’t give away anything for free, especially a chance at higher payouts.
Claim no cost, low-cost and/or no-wagering promotions
To get the most bang for your buck, choose promotions like:
- No deposit offers – If you don’t have to deposit anything to get some bonus funds or free spins, that’s awesome! Just make sure the offer isn’t loaded down with restrictions, especially wagering requirements.
- No-wagering bonus offer – Anything you win from the bonus or spins is yours and free to withdraw without having to wager your deposit and/or bonus amount a certain number of times first.
- Mixed wagering bonus offer – Your deposited funds and bonus funds are separated and a portion of money from each is used while the bonus is active. This ensures that if you win, a percentage of the winnings is distributed to your player account (which can be withdrawn at any time), and a percentage goes to your bonus account (counting toward fulfilling wagering requirements).
- Freerolls and Buy-in slots tournaments – Some online casinos offer freeroll slots tournaments, which you can enter without having to buy-in. If, by the end of the tourney you rank in one of the prize positions, you’re often awarded a share of free spins. Buy-in slots tourneys as low as a $1 are low-cost and can also be fun to join. They can lead to prizes that include a share in a cash pot.
*While no-wagering and mixed wagering promotions typically require you to make a deposit first, the good news is that many casino promotions have minimum deposit requirements as low as $10. Even a player with limited funds should be able to swing this once or twice a month, considering the average online casino’s minimum deposit limit without a promo is around $10 anyhow.
💡Tip – Sign up to receive notifications about offers if you like to claim promotions. Most importantly, always read the bonus terms and conditions of every promotion you want to claim. This is important, even if you only skim to find key details including: eligibility, wagering requirements, payment restrictions, bet restrictions, win restrictions, qualifying games, and bonus expiry.
Play the games you enjoy
While it’s all well and good to follow all the above winning casino strategies to make your bankroll last as long as possible, it’s just as important to play the games that appeal to you most. Sometimes, these games might not have the lowest bet ranges, the lowest volatility, or the highest RTP, but that’s okay. The whole point to gambling is to enjoy yourself and have fun. Any wins that result from the activity is just icing on the cake!
💡Tip – Always remember that many games available at online casinos can be demoed in a free play mode. This gives you the opportunity to either play for fun risk-free, try out a strategy, or take the games you want to play for a test drive to see if they’re what you’d like to spend your money on.
Play at a casino with games and restrictions that fit your budget
With all the above winning strategies in mind, the final one is to be choosy about where you play. Not all online casinos – including the legitimate ones – are created equally. Every casino operator functions with its own set of rules and policies. They also aren’t always partnered with the same game providers, which means that there may be different slots and casino games (types and quantity) available from one to the other.
It’s important to choose a licensed and responsible online casino that:
- Provides the types of games you like to play
- Has games with low bet limits
- Has games with high RTP
- Has a low minimum deposit amount (e.g. $10 or less)
- Has no or very low deposit or withdrawal fees
- Offers promotions with no or mixed wagering requirements
Ultimately, the less the casino takes in terms of fees, wagering requirements, and the lower bet options it provides, the more of your bankroll you’ll be able to use to play on your favourite games.
💡Tip – Don’t forget to factor deposit fees into your online casino budget. While many online casinos do not charge withdrawal fees, sometimes there are deposit fees. Fees may differ from one payment method to the next and one casino to the next. For instance, I currently deposit with paysafecard, which has a 5.0% deposit fee. The minimum paysafecard deposit I can make at the casino where I play is $9.50. However, with the 5.0% fee, the actual lowest deposit costs me $9.98 ($9.50 x $1.05). Although not a big deal, this fee adds up the more you deposit. So, if you only have a $50 monthly gambling budget, you’ll get less than that for your bankroll, because the rest of the $50 will go toward covering the fee. Using my paysafecard payment method as an example, if I only had $50 to play with, the most I could deposit into my casino account without going over my $50 budget is $47.50, as this deposit amount would cost me $2.38 in fees (a total of $49.88). Ultimately, my $50 budget would result in $47.50 added to my bankroll and $2.38 of it gone to fees.
Mia’s Final Thought on Beginner Winning Casino Strategies
It’s important to remember that the key word in “winning casino strategies” is strategies. Strategies are about employing clever tactics, but strategies do not guarantee wins. No gambling strategy is a foolproof plan. They’re fun to employ and can be helpful, but you won’t win all the time even if you use them without fail (I know, bummer, right? 😜). Even gambling pros who come up with the best tricks to winning at casino games, don’t win all the time.
The strategies I’ve provided are based on logic and can help you extend the life of your limited bankroll. Putting them to use won’t necessarily lead to a winning streak or a big win. Avoid falling into the trap of thinking gambling is a way to make money. It’s not. Ultimately – like all entertainment – gambling is about having a good time. Using winning strategies and sticking to them isn’t as much about winning as they are about putting you in control of how you play.
Do you have any winning casino strategies for beginners you’d like to share? If so, please leave your suggestions in the comments. 😁
Until next time, good luck and have fun.
Mia 👩💻
*All links and images in this post are for informational purposes only. I am not affiliated with PlayOJO.
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