How slots, blackjack, roulette and baccarat actually work
Every casino comparison eventually runs into the same question: what are you actually comparing? This guide covers the four games most UK operators build their catalogues around, so the rest of our reviews make more sense in context.
Slots
A slot machine spins a set of reels, each carrying a strip of symbols, and pays out when matching symbols land on an active payline. Modern online slots typically run five reels and anywhere from a handful to several thousand ways to form a winning combination, depending on the title. Two things drive how a slot feels to play:
- Volatility — how spread out the wins are. Low-volatility slots pay smaller amounts more often; high-volatility slots pay rarely but can pay much larger amounts when they do.
- RTP (return to player) — a theoretical long-run average of how much a slot returns to players over a very large number of spins, expressed as a percentage. It says nothing about any individual session, which can land well above or below that average.
Every result on a licensed online slot comes from a random number generator, independently tested before the game goes live — our operator reviews note which studios supply the slots on each site we cover.
Blackjack
The goal is simple: get a hand value closer to 21 than the dealer's, without going over. Number cards count at face value, face cards count as 10, and an ace counts as 1 or 11, whichever helps the hand more. Players can "hit" (take another card), "stand" (keep their current total), "double down" (double the bet for exactly one more card), or "split" a pair into two separate hands. Basic strategy — a fixed set of correct decisions for every hand combination — narrows the house's mathematical edge more than in almost any other casino game, which is part of why blackjack has such a loyal following.
Roulette
A ball is spun around a wheel divided into 37 pockets on a European wheel (numbered 0 to 36) or 38 on an American wheel (which adds a second zero). Bets can go on a single number, a small group of numbers, a colour, odd or even, or a range such as 1–18. Single-number bets pay the highest odds because they're the least likely to land; broader bets like red/black pay closer to even money because they cover roughly half the wheel. The European single-zero wheel gives a better long-run return than the American double-zero version, purely because there's one fewer losing pocket for outside bets to fall into.
Baccarat
Baccarat is a comparing card game between two hands, the "player" and the "banker" — names that don't necessarily correspond to who's betting on which side. Cards 2 through 9 count at face value, 10s and face cards count as zero, and aces count as one; if a hand's total goes above 9, only the last digit counts (so 8 and 7 makes 15, which counts as 5). Bettors simply wager on which hand will end up closer to 9, or on a tie. It's one of the simplest games at the table in terms of decisions — there's no strategy to learn beyond choosing where to place the bet — which is part of its appeal to newcomers and high-stakes players alike.
Live-dealer versions
Most operators we review also offer live versions of blackjack, roulette and baccarat, streamed from a studio or, in the case of one operator on our list, from an actual land-based casino floor. The rules stay identical to the standard game; the difference is a real dealer and, usually, the ability to see other players' bets and chat during the round.
Where this fits into our reviews
When our operator reviews talk about "game range" or "game studios," they're describing which of these formats — and which specific studio's take on them — an operator actually offers. Knowing the mechanics above makes it easier to judge whether a "wide game range" claim actually means something.