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Some people go to casinos to enjoy wild and unpredictable games like slots and roulette. Others prefer to have at least some control over the outcome, and this article is for them.
Welcome to my list of the best casino games that require skill! When you play these games, you won’t be relying on Lady Luck alone. Instead, you have at least a partial chance to take your destiny into your own hands and make some profits based on an earned skillset.
Honestly, every casino game involves elements of chance, and you’ll never be in full control of every outcome, but these are the ones that involve the most skill.
Video Poker
- House Edge: 0-2.5%
- Difficulty: Intermediate
Video poker is the ultimate of the casino skill games. It’s the only one in the house where you can flip the house edge negative if you implement a proper strategy and don’t make any mistakes.
Video poker is a five-card poker game. Your objective is simply to make the best five-card poker hand possible using the cards you are dealt and the ones you receive after possibly discarding some. You’ll be paid according to the pay table for the variation you pick.
Played perfectly, you can flip the house edge in your favor in Deuces Wild, Double Bonus, Double Double Bonus, and Jokers Wild. These are the best video poker variants and are widely available at the top casino sites.
I recommend playing video poker at Wild Casino. It offers half a dozen popular video poker games, many of which with low house edge.
Blackjack
- House Edge: 0.5%
- Difficulty: Easy
Walk into any casino in the world, and I guarantee there will be blackjack tables. This is the most popular casino card game for a reason; it’s simple and easy to play, it has an incredibly low house edge, and you can practice to get better at it.
Unlike card games such as baccarat, which are based on pure luck, blackjack does involve some degree of skill. There are blackjack strategies that you can learn and master, and depending on how you play, the house edge can be reduced to a tiny amount, allowing you to grind out a profit.
Learning how to count cards, when to split, and what the odds are of going bust when you hit with certain hand values is an art form. It all requires skill. Play blackjack for free, or use a simulator to build up your skillset to practice before you play for real money.
I recommend playing blackjack at Betway Casino, one of the safest online gambling sites out there. You will find various video tables, but also many blackjack games with live dealers.
Craps
- House Edge: Depends on bet
- Difficulty: Intermediate
Craps is one of those games that simultaneously rely on luck but also involve a degree of skill. What do I mean by that? Well, you can’t control how the dice land when you roll them, but there’s a lot to learn before you master this game.
First of all, craps has its own lingo. Craps glossaires exist to help you understand the dozens of terms associated with the game. After that, there are many different bets, and learning the probabilities and odds associated with them is certainly a skill.
Aside from mastering craps basics, there are skills such as dice control that can help if you play in brick-and-mortar casinos. Read some of the top craps books to build your knowledge of the game before playing, learning, and growing into a craps pro.
I recommend playing craps at BetUS Casino. It’s a top-rated casino site with a generous bonus for new players and has an endless series of reloads, free spins for cool slots, and more if you stick around.
Poker
- House Edge: N/A
- Difficulty: Intermediate
Many online and real-world casinos have poker rooms attached to them. You can play Texas Hold’em, Omaha, and some other poker variants in them. All of these involve plenty of skill. In fact, poker is probably the most skill-based gambling game of them all.
Some people choose to dive in and learn by doing, but as with other skill-based casino games, I recommend taking the time to memorize poker hand ranks, the odds and probabilities of hands occurring, and the betting order in poker games. Mastering these skills will save you from making costly mistakes when you play for real money.
Remember, every WSOP champion at one time played his or her first hand of poker. This is one of the casino games that require skill that you can truly master in a few years of diligent practice. Learning poker will also help you with your video poker game.
The best casino site that also offers poker is Bovada. We’ve given it the highest rating. All new players are entitled to a $3,000 welcome bonus to use in the casino, and extra poker bonuses are also offered.
Puzzle Games
- House Edge: Variable
- Difficulty: Easy
Find your way to the ‘other games’ section of the top online casinos, and you’ll find plenty of alternative games. Some even offer chess and puzzle games which most certainly qualify as casino skill games.
Real money puzzle games involve skills like math, logic, and problem-solving. Rather than relying on pure chance the way slot machines do, you’ll need to engage your brain and utilize skill to work.
Where can you play puzzle games and other casino games of skill? They aren’t as widely available as the others on this list, but Betway has a few. It’s one of the best gambling destinations online.
