Since the rise of the internet, online casino games have seen significant growth. Plenty of classic games have adapted to the digital format, with many new varieties now on offer on online casino platforms.
In the space of a couple of decades, online casino platforms have come a long way. So, let’s take a look at five facts about online casino games that you might not have heard before.
- The most popular online casino games
It’ll probably come as no surprise to hear that Slots are the most commonly played online casino game. There are literally hundreds of different variations of Slots, with varied themes and mechanics that help to set all those varieties apart.
But did you know what the second most popular online casino game is?
Roulette topped the charts as the most popular classic table game available online. With its straightforward gameplay and limited ruleset, it’s not hard to see why Roulette took second place.
The rise of live Roulette games has also helped to keep its popularity up, with players having the option to play games run by live dealers using physical game components.
- How progressive jackpots work
Older slot game designs featured fixed jackpots, which are still around today. But there’s also a newer form of jackpot that is common among online Slots – the progressive jackpot.
These start from a fixed level and grow over time, with a fraction of each wager made on a game going towards the jackpot. All online instances of the same game are connected, allowing the jackpot amount to steadily increase over time as players play the game.
This allows for progressive jackpots to reach higher values than a standard fixed jackpot, potentially climbing into the hundreds of thousands or even higher.
- The technology behind live dealer games
Live dealer games are a newer development for online casinos, due to the technology needed to bring together online play and elements of a land-based casino. Live streaming technology allows for various high-definition cameras to capture all angles of the game table and broadcast them to online players in real-time.
A core piece of technology involved in live casino games is optical character recognition (OCR). This is what allows the game software to read the camera images, translating images of playing card faces or the Roulette wheel into digital data. If you’re curious about how all of this works and how it benefits your gameplay, you can get full insights into the systems that power today’s most trusted live casino platforms.
- How random number generators work
All online casino games that aren’t using live dealers instead use computer algorithms known as random number generators (RNGs) to determine their outcomes.
An RNG works by generating strings of thousands of numbers per second, making it impossible to predict which numbers will be generated when a game or action is initiated. Each number will line up to a symbol on the reels of a slot game, playing cards in a deck or a pocket on the Roulette wheel to tell the software what the outcome is.
- Return to player percentage
A piece of info that all online casino games list is their return to player (RTP) percentage. This is one of the most important figures related to a game, as it shows a general idea of how much of players’ wagers it pays back over time.
But RTP is worked out over a very long period so it’s more of a general guideline and no guarantee of any short-term returns.
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There’s plenty to understand about online casino games, from their individual rules and varieties to the inner workings of the technology powering them. How many of these five facts did you know already?