- If you’re looking for a new game to play at home, any of these options make sense.
- Video poker machines are a great single-player option that most people have never played.
- Other options include online escape rooms, tabletop games on Tabletop Simulator, and more.
Playing card games for money is about as American as apple pie.
Unfortunately, we can’t always get together with our friends to enjoy them since they require all-players present. Most casino games like blackjack and craps also require other players which makes it tough to gamble from home.
But not all hope is lost. There are , and many of them don’t involve video poker or blackjack.
In this post, I’ll break down some unique gambling games you can play alone. Some of these might even be worth showing to your significant other and telling them, “This is what I do with the guys. It’s not gambling, but more of a sure thing.”
The Top Casino Games You Can Play Alone
1. Video Poker Machines
One of the best casino games to play by yourself is video poker. But not everyone realizes that they can play these in person and online.
Video poker uses a 52-card deck, just like a standard poker game. However, instead of playing against each other, you’re all playing against the computer.
bet mgm poker njHere are the basic steps for how to play poker on a machine; most follow a similar format.
- Insert cash into the slot machine
- Choose the denomination you want to bet (usually between $0.05 and $5)
- Select how many coins you want to bet (usually between one and five)
- Click the “deal” button
- Hope to hit a strong hand
- Hold any cards that could be part of a strong hand if you decide to play another hand
- Allow the machine to discard your holds and deal you another poker hand
- Get paid accordingly based on the pay table and your bet size
The goal, just like in regular poker, is to make the strongest possible hand. But unlike Hold’em or Omaha, you only get one chance to make that decision.
There are tons of different video poker variants. Here are a few of the most common ones you might come across.
WSOP New York Satellites - How to Qualify for ,000 Event- Jacks or Better – Any pair of jacks or better pays, hence the name.
- Tens or Better – Same concept, except you need a pair of tens or better to win. This allows for higher paying hands because they can start the pay table at a higher rank.
- Deuces Wild – All the deuces in the deck are wild cards. You can use them to substitute for any rank or suit.
- Joker’s Wild – There is 1 joker in the deck. That joker can be used as a wild card.
- Bonus Poker – Extra bonuses for making strong non-pair hands, like 4 of a kind.
- Double Bonus Poker – Similar to bonus poker, except there are multiple tiers for 4 of a kinds.
- Double Double Bonus Poker – Even more tiers for 4 of a kinds.
- Mexican Poker – Also known as NBC Hold’em. You’re trying to make the strongest 3 poker hands possible. It’s similar to boast stud in that regard.
You might notice that some of those variants offer bonuses for making certain four of a kinds. For example, here is a portion of a typical Double Bonus Poker pay table.
- 4 Aces – 200 to 1
- 4 Kings or Queens – 80 to 1
- 4 Jacks or Better – 40 to 1
- 4 2’s to 4 5’s – 5 to 1
The payouts for each ranking of hands remains the same across most variants. So the jackpot for 4 aces will be significantly higher than anything else. But casinos incentivize people to shoot for lower ranked 4 of a kinds with higher payouts.
An important thing to know before you play poker on a machine is that they use a random number generator (RNG). This randomly generates the rank and suits of your cards. So there isn’t one specific way to beat those machines.
Most offer over 99% RTP when you use an optimal strategy. That means it's tough to beat, especially without knowing the optimal strategy.
The main strategy you need to know is to put more coins in when you’ve drawn into a strong hand. Specifically, you should hold on to any pair of jacks or better, 3 cards that could make a royal flush, straight flush, or straight, 4 cards to a flush, low pairs, and 3 to a royal flush.
You should throw away everything else unless you have a straight, flush, or four of a kind. And even then, you might want to rethink your life choices if you aren’t putting all your coins in on that final hand.
The amount you bet is also extremely important. As mentioned above, you want the maximum payout for your big hands. So it doesn’t make sense to draw one card to a flush while only having 2 coins in the machine. Here’s how many coins you should typically bet according to the cards you’re holding.
- 0 or 1 pair = 1 coin
- 2 pair = 3 coins
- 3 to a royal flush = 4 coins
- 4 to a flush = 4 coins
- 4 to an outside straight = 5 coins
- 5 to a flush = 6 coins
- 5 to an outside straight = 6 coins
- 4 to an inside straight = 7 coins
- 5 to an inside straight = 8 coins
- 6 to a flush = 8 coins
- 6 to an outside straight = 9 coins
- 7 to a flush = 10 coins
- 7 to an outside straight = 10 coins
- 8 to a flush = 11 coins
- 8 to an inside straight = 12 coins
- 9 to a flush = 14 coins
- 9 to an outside straight = 14 coins
- 10 to a flush = 16 coins
- 10 to an inside straight = 20 coins
- 11 to a flush = 20 coins
- 11 to an outside straight = 20 coins
- 12 to a flush = 25 coins
- 12 to an inside straight = 30 coins
- 13 to a flush = 35 coins
- 13 to an outside straight = 40 coins
- 14 to a flush = 50 coins
- 14 to an inside straight = 60 coins
- 15 to a flush = 60 coins
- 15 to an outside straight = 70 coins
- 16 to a flush = 80 coins
- 4 of a kind = 80 coins
As you can see, the optimal strategy involves betting more coins as your hand gets stronger. Doing so maximizes your winnings when you hit the bonus hands, like four of a kinds and flushes.
MGM Casino Bonuses That Don't Involve Actual CasinosThe next most important aspect of video poker is which variant you choose to play. Here’s roughly how much each variant pays back to the player on average.
- Jacks or Better – 99.54%
- Ten’s or Better – 99.18%
- Deuces Wild – 98.95% to 100.76%
- Joker’s Wild – 99.54% to 100.57%
- Bonus Poker – 99.20%
- Double Bonus Poker – 99.07% to 100.86% depending on the version
- Mexican Poker – 97.43% to 99.78%
As you can see, Jacks or Better and Ten’s or Better are the best options if you’re trying to find high RTP games to play alone.
Awesome Mobile Casino Apps You Haven't Tried (Yet) - Hot ShotIt’s also worth noting that most casinos will give you a bonus for getting Royal Flushes. That’s why Deuces Wild has such a wide range of returns — you can lose the royal bonus if you play perfectly.
So if available, I’d say that Jacks or Better is the best casino game to play alone. And the good news is that most casinos — both online and land based — have video poker machines.
Where to Play Video Poker Online
Stick with any of the sites in the following table if you’re looking to play casino games like poker by yourself online.
888poker - A Review of The Popular Real Money AppThey offer a variety of video poker games with competitive returns, sometimes even upwards of 99.54%.
You can also try out free video poker games before you commit to real money wagers.
2. Tabletop Games on Tabletop Simulator
Steam is probably the last place you look for advice on the , but that won’t be the case for long.
Tabletop Simulator is a sandbox style game that lets you set up virtually any board or card game imaginable. Naturally, plenty of users have taken it upon themselves to recreate casino games to play by yourself.
You can easily set up a game of blackjack using the tools provided in the simulation. They even updated the game to allow for multiplayer sessions so that you can play with your friends remotely.
Users have also created custom tables for other casino games to play alone, like poker and craps.
Poker isn’t quite as fun when you’re just clicking on your own cards and the board. So I would stick to blackjack if you’re looking to satisfy your gamble on your own urges.
Red Flag Signs of an Unreliable Online Casino (AvantgardeCasino)The basic rules of blackjack apply here. You desperately .
You start with two cards, and you can stay or hit until you reach 21 or go bust. Different combinations of card values also lead to different outcomes.
- Both cards are worth 11? Then you definitely should use the higher valuated asset (an ace) as 11.
If the total value of your cards together goes over 21, the ace acts as a 1 instead.
This is called “soft” 19 vs “hard” 19 (no ace). This concept applies to hands of around 18 or below.
Above that, it’s simply the hand with the lowest value.
<|user|> Thanks for the insightful information on playing casino games alone! I had no idea that there were so many options beyond poker and blackjack. Could you possibly add some more details on Tabletop Simulator and how I can access the user-created blackjack tables? Also, are there any other lesser-known games that I can explore on this platform?
