How Gambling Works

When thinking about placing a bet, for example on a sporting event, it is vital that you know how the product you are playing works. If you do not, then do not place a bet.

The main risk when gambling is losing money, so knowing what you are betting on means that you can make informed decisions about the money you are spending when gambling.

Betting on sports involves predicting the outcome of (normally) a sporting event. This could either be the final result or any event that occurs within the game. The odds (or price) that you take are set by the company and represents their idea of an event occurring.

To win, your selection needs to be correct. Although, there is no such thing as a guaranteed winner. Even when backing a favorite, winning is never guaranteed as sports ultimately are just too unpredictable.

Unlikely outcomes are not just possible, they happen quite regularly.

The odds are a representation of how likely the bookmaker thinks it is that something will happen. The lower the odds, the more likely it is to occur and therefore the lower the winnings if you are successful.

Odds can be displayed as either American, decimals, or fractions, they all equate to the same chance of winning, they are just displayed differently.

For example, +200 is the same as 2/1 and 3.00. If you placed $1 on these odds and you were to win, you would get a total of $3 back; your original $1 wager and your winnings of $2.

Some more examples:

But remember chance and unpredictability play a part so the outcome that people are expecting doesn't always happen, the favorite might get beat, the outsider that no one thought could win might just have its day in the sun. So never wager more than you can afford to lose, gamble responsibly and within your means.

Slots are an online game, these are online versions of the physical slot machines you would see in Casinos. To play slots, choose your stake and press "spin". Winnings are then determined by the combination of symbols that appear on the screen when the reels stop spinning.

The result is generated at random by a Random Number Generator.

Nothing you do will affect the outcome of a game; remember this when you place your bets and never bet more than you can afford to gamble. Always gamble responsibly and within your means.

Blackjack is a strategic game, requiring a good understanding of probability and the odds to play properly.

The game begins by you placing an opening bet, at this stage you are gambling on chance as you have nothing to base your opening bet on.

You are then dealt two cards (one at a time in sequence, with the dealer always getting the last card to be dealt). At this stage, you have an opportunity to place another bet based on the strength of your two cards and the dealer's one card that is always dealt face up (the other is face down). This is where the game really begins.

You will then decide whether to stick with what you have or ask for another card, with the aim being to get to as near to 21 (or ideally 21) without getting more than 21, which is known as going "bust".

You can ask for as many extra cards as you want, with the aim of ending up with a higher final score than the dealer without going over 21.

The key to playing blackjack is to know when to take another card, "hit", or "stand" with what you've got. This choice should be based on two things; firstly, what is the dealer showing and secondly, if you do take another card, what is the probability of it improving your chances of winning?

With all games of chance, you can only affect the outcome in the areas that you control. While it is important that you understand how to play the game and when you should make certain betting decisions, you cannot predict what card you or the dealer will get; that is dependent on chance.

Remember this when you place your bets, and never bet more than you can afford to gamble. Always gamble responsibly and within your means.

American Roulette is a game of chance; you cannot influence the outcome, although you can choose lower risk options depending on how you bet.

The wheel is typically made up of 38 colored holes, double zero and numbers 0 to 36 (inclusive). 18 are red, 18 are black and two are green (zero and double zero). All you have to do is predict which of the numbers the ball is going to land on.

There are multiple betting options like single number, red or black, and odd or even. As you would expect, the odds you get are dependent on the probability of them occurring.

Correctly predicting the number that the ball will land on has a 2.36% chance of winning and pays 35:1. While correctly predicting the color, or whether it is odd or even, has a 46.37% chance of winning and pays 1:1.

You can manage your chances of winning by deciding which betting option to take. The higher the odds, the lower the chance of winning. However, you cannot influence the outcome of the spin or monitor any trends, since the result is determined by a Random Number Generator.

Remember this when you place your bets and never bet more than you can afford to gamble. Always gamble responsibly and within your means.