The Most Popular Types of Table Games
Casino tables are where the players head to test out their skills and try out their luck. You may already have tried your hand at or at least seen some popular table games, such as roulette, blackjack, poker and baccarat. Blackjack tends to be the most popular, as it has a low house edge and the rules are easy to learn even for beginners. Baccarat and dice games like Sic Bo are hugely popular over in Asia and have gained popularity in the West as well.
All these great table games have their online versions available at online casinos, and some you can play with a human dealer in real time. Below we will go through the most popular table games, which we highly recommend you try out.
American Roulette
American roulette is an exciting game which has simple enough rules that even casino novices will find it entertaining. Almost all online casinos have at least one version of American roulette available, and some have European versions as well. Both games have numbers 0–36 to choose from, but the American version also has a double zero, ‘00’. The player places a bet either on a number or a group of numbers, after which the croupier spins the wheel and the white ball will land on the winning number.
Craps
Craps is a game played with two dice and it is also easy for beginners. The player makes a bet on the outcome of two dice by selecting one or multiple different options which are marked on the table. Craps is great fun and the popularity of the game exploded in the 1940s, still being a great favourite of many.
Blackjack
Blackjack or 21 as it is sometimes called is a relatively easy-to-play card game which does involve a deal of skill and good luck as well. To put simply, the player’s goal is to beat the dealer’s hand by getting a greater total, but without ever going over 21, otherwise the player loses immediately. The best hand in the game is called a blackjack (an ace and a picture card which is worth 10 points), hence the name of the game. As blackjack is the most popular card game played at casinos, it can be found on virtually all online casinos.
Baccarat
A favourite of the fictional character James Bond, Baccarat is played almost from an observant’s position. Two hands are played which are called ‘the player’ and ‘the banker’, and there are three possible outcomes to bet on: either the player wins, the banker wins or there is a tie. Each of the hands gets dealt two cards, and the closest to get a score of 9 wins – 10s and picture cards count as zero. There is also a rule of the third card, so in some cases a third card will be drawn. The rules of baccarat will take a while to brush up on, but it is not an overly complicated game and can be great fun.
Three Card Poker
Three card poker is a card game which is based on poker, but it has been created to be played at the speed of other table games, so that it will not take as long to play as ‘regular’ poker. In three card poker the player and the dealer get dealt three cards after an ante has been put in, and the goal is to beat the dealer’s hand. The dealer may only play their hand if they get a queen-high, which has a probability of 69.59% to happen. After the initial ante, the player can look at their cards and choose whether to place another bet in to play or whether to fold. Three card poker is an entertaining and fast-paced game for poker lovers.
Pai Gow Poker
The original pai gow is a Chinese game played with dominoes, but the pai gow poker is played with cards instead. The player is dealt seven cards and the aim is to sort the cards into a 5-card poker hand and a separate 2-card hand to try to beat the dealer’s hands. Winning just one hand results in a tie, so both hands are equally as important! Some online pai gow poker games have a function which automatically chooses the best hands to play for you, if you wish to play faster and want the computer to do your picking for you.
Sic Bo
Another Asian favourite, sic bo is a dice game played with three dice instead of two like in craps. Sic bo is extremely popular in Macau casinos and has found solid support in the online community as well. All the possible bets the player can make are printed on the sic bo table, and this game of pure chance is easy to grasp and enjoy.
Live Dealer Games
Online table games have been around for a good while now but taking the experience to a whole new level are the live dealer games. On live casino games you get to play the game as you would on a regular online version, but the game’s dealer is a real human who is playing the game with the players in real time. Live casinos use optical recognition software, which detects the results on dice, cards or roulette wheel, and shows the results on-screen for the players.
In live dealer games you can also enjoy chatting with the dealer and other players in a chat, making the experience more immersive and personal. All this fancy technology and real human interaction comes at a cost though, and live dealer games can have higher stakes and end up being more costly.
If you are still new to the games and want to practice your gameplay, or if you just want to enjoy a few rounds of the less expensive versions, the regular online table games will do you just fine. We do still highly recommend trying out live dealer games at least once, as it provides a more real casino experience without the need to travel or dress up for the occasion!
