The love for gambling combined with the increasing advancements in technology is springing up new online casinos while improving the existing ones at the same time. Just like regular casinos, these ones provide a wide array of gambling games to choose from. Of all these games, some of the best ones are the good old poker and slot games which may look similar, but they actually differ a lot in many aspects. However, these aspects are mostly narrowed down to luck vs skill. This article will break down the differences to give a clear understanding of what these two games really are.
Poker VS Slots
- Skills and involvement
These two are as different as day and night. Poker is a game that requires skills and a lot of involvement. Even before getting started as a poker player, you need to learn the rules to get the basic skills. This, however, only makes you an amateur player because some skills that must be learned through experience. For instance, professional players pay attention to every detail. They watch and analyze everything in order to get the player’s emotions as they call, raise or fold. They themselves try to control their emotions when playing so that they cannot be read. Poker is all about reading the players but in online poker, this can be quite difficult because players cannot see each other. However, a skilled player will still analyze the game play in an online platform for instance the time taken before doing a certain action and using those skills, he or she will certainly have an upper hand. The advantage with this is that a skilled player has higher chances of winning the pot.Slot games on the other hand require little or no skill at all. Slot machines, whether in regular or online casinos have a random number generator (RNG) which continuously generates a random number that determines which combination of symbols will appear on the reels. When you click the spin button, the RNG stops at that exact instance and its current random number is used. This means that when the reels spin, the actual combination is already decided. This spinning is just like a visual effect to give you more excitement so that you can bet more. Therefore, playing an online slot machine is as simple as just pressing the button and waiting for the outcome. Some would argue however that playing after long intervals will greatly increase your odds because the RNG has had enough time to reshuffle and reorganize the random number to a completely different and possible winning combination. The advantage with this is that everyone has equal odds of winning the pot. - Jackpots
Most online poker games do not feature progressive jackpots. A poker player requires patience because pot winnings are usually small but with lower odds. This gives poker players the advantage of winning smaller pots, which overtime may translate to a big accumulation.On the other hand, most slot games, if not all, have progressive jackpots. Most of the times, many slot games are connected meaning that as players continuously bet, any loss adds onto the pot and it can reach millions. At the end, due to very high odds, the lucky winner may bag a very huge jackpot. This gives one lucky winner the advantage of earning potentially a life’s worth of income in a very short time. - Your Competition
When playing a poker game, you are playing against the rest of the players. Though all casino games have odds which favor the house, this case is a bit different because the house deducts a small amount from the pot and the rest is left for the best player. As we all know, the house does not like to lose so poker games have the advantage of the house not participating and thus the pot is won more frequently.However, with slot games, you are playing against the house. By using the RNG, the house significantly raises the odds of you winning and this makes it very difficult to bag the jackpot. The good thing with this is that when you win, you win big. - Fun and excitement
Apart from simplicity, slots can be fun and exciting with their animated imagery and beautiful sounds. On the other hand, poker games are more relaxed and strategy oriented so they can be boring to some but very exciting and addictive to the players who understand it.
Poker Games Online
There are various varieties of poker games. These include:
- Texas Hold ‘Em
This is the most popular and recognizable poker game. Each player gets two cards face down and uses those together with five community cards. It has four betting rounds which are the Preflop, Flop, Turn and River rounds and the winner is determined after the river round as the one with the best 5-card hand, using one or two of their hole cards and three or four of the community cards. - Omaha
In this, you get four cards face down but you use two of them with three community cards to get the best 5-card hand. The betting rounds are similar to Texas Hold ‘Em. - Seven Card Stud
In this, players get seven cards, three face down, four face up. They must get the best 5-card hand from these in order to win. - Five Card Draw
Players are dealt five cards face down and have the opportunity to trade up to three of them from the deck. There are betting rounds before and after the trade in and the player with the best 5-card hand at the end is the winner. - Irish Poker
Players are dealt four cards and after the flop round, they have to discard two of the four cards then the game takes on the Texas Hold ‘Em gameplay.
Slot Games Online
Slot games have grown over the years to include a huge range of options which include:
- Classic Slots
These are slots with three reels with each reel containing 10-32 symbols. The pot is won when symbols on these three reels line up. - Video Slots
This is the most common online slot game. It has five reels and most have from 1 to over 100 pay lines. This allows you to bet on more than one pay line, giving a higher chance of winning. - Mega Spin Slots
This enables you to play up to nine games at once. Most require you to choose three to nine games and once this is selected and the bet is placed, the selected reels rotate and stop simultaneously to give you the random combination. - Progressive Slots
This can either be a single slot or a network of slots combined to pool the jackpot and potentially make it grow to millions in a very short time. To win, most casinos require you to play all the pay lines and the maximum amount of coins. - Fruit Machine Slots
These are similar to classic slots with three reels and one pay line but their symbols are limited to fruits only. However, newer versions have up to 5 reels with multiple bonuses to make it more interesting.