One common problem experienced by online casino players is bankroll leaks. A leak is any activity that takes additional money from your bankroll. Leaks can be mistakes made when playing online casino games or even participating in games you should be avoiding.
Today, you’ll learn 5 of the most common bankroll leaks experienced by online casino players. Recognizing these leaks can help you avoid them while playing at Australian online casinos.
Playing Higher Than Your Bankroll Can Support
A common mistake made by many online casino players is playing at stakes higher than their bankroll can support. For example, if you have a bankroll of $50, you should not be playing $5 a hand blackjack. You can only play 10 hands at this limit. You’ll play a lot longer at $1 a hand.
The same is true for those that play multiple hands at a time. Even at $1 a hand, you should not be playing three hands of blackjack at a time. If you have a $50 or $100 bankroll, you shouldn’t be playing 50 to 100 hand video poker for more than .05 a hand.
You should realistically have between 50 and 100 bets in your bankroll for any given game. If you play blackjack, you need $50 to play $1 a hand. For $5 a hand, you should have $250. Using this rule of thumb will help combat standard variance in most games and give you a chance to play longer.
Side Bets One of the Biggest Bankroll Leaks
There are two reasons you should avoid side bets. The first is that they drain your bankroll quicker. Going back to blackjack, if you play $1 per hand and the side bet is $1 per hand, you are effectively doubling your stakes.
Side bets generally drain your bankroll and have a huge house edge.
The next reason you should avoid side bets is that the house edge is almost always much higher than the standard game. Side bets have a house edge ranging from 7 percent all the way to 35 percent. This edge is often double that of the standard game with some of these bets having an edge ten times that of the standard game.
Chasing Progressive Jackpots
If you are chasing progressive jackpots regularly, then you are leaking funds from your bankroll. While the amount of money that can be won is massive in progressive jackpots, they hit so infrequently that they are not usually a smart play.
Progressive jackpot pokies are high variance pokies and you will often blow through large sums before hitting a substantial win. Also, keep in mind that jackpot pokies often take months and sometimes years to hit the jackpot.
You can conduct some research online for popular jackpot pokie games like Mega Moolah to see when the game last paid a progressive. If the win was recent, then it is usually not worth chasing. The exception is when you find the rare casino bonus that allows progressive jackpot play.
Not Using Online Casino Bonuses
If you are not using online casino bonuses on deposits, then you are throwing away money, especially if you play online pokies. Many of these bonuses offer a match bonus ranging from 25 percent all the way to 100 percent of your bonus. If you can deposit $50 and start playing with $100, why not?
Then there are bonuses that include free spins. This is an easy way to get extra play on select pokies without adding additional funds to your bankroll.
Ignoring online casino bonuses is like throwing away money.
We realize that bonuses may not be a major advantage for certain games. If you play games like craps that may only contribute 10 percent to a wagering requirement, a bonus may not provide much benefit. However, online pokies contribute 100 percent and you’re making a mistake by ignoring deposit bonuses.
Bankroll Leaks Include Ignoring Paytables or RTP of Games
If you are not paying attention to the paytables or RTP of online casino games, you’re making a mistake that’s costing you money. Paytables tell you how much a game will payout and the RTP is how much a game such as online pokies will payout.
For example, a 9-6 paytable on a video poker machine pays out 2 percent more than an 8-5 machine. While two percent doesn’t sound like much, that’s $2 for every $100 wagered. Over time that adds up.
When looking at pokies RTP, the higher the better. You want to completely avoid games that don’t pay at least 95 percent. However, the 95 to 96 percent are on the higher side of variance for pokies. As such, you want games that are 96 percent and higher. In some rare cases, you will find pokies with an RTP of 99 percent.
Compare paytables and RTP of games to give yourself the best theoretical chance of winning. That will help you stretch your bankroll.