Although many Irish casino players prefer casino slots at their online casino there is lots of fun to be with table games and all online casinos carry quite a variety. Table games is a very generic term and include all sorts of card games as well as the ever popular roulette which is probably the most played of them all. Roulette is popular because it is very simple to play and there is no skill involved so even players who have never visited any kind of online casino can immediately play and enjoy the game. There are three basic varieties of roulette which are the European version, the French version and the American version. The French and European versions are basically the same having 36 numbers plus a single zero but the layout of the betting table is slightly different with the French version having places that allow bets to be placed on adjacent numbers on the roulette wheel. This can of course also be done on the other versions but the chips will need to be placed individually on the relative numbers. The American version should be avoided if at all possible. The reason for this which not everybody realises is that the American version of roulette has a second zero in addition to the 36 numbers and single zero that the European and French versions have. This means that there are now 38 slots on the roulette wheel instead of 37 but the paying out odds remain the same so your chances of winning are reduced. There are places where only the American version is available such as on cruise ships or ferries but online casinos generally have both.
The next most popular of the table games at online casinos is probably Blackjack but this is a game which requires a little more attention than roulette. Some older Irish casino players may have played Pontoon at some time in the past but the two games, although similar, are not the same as played at online casinos. The main difference is that in blackjack a tie results in your stake being returned but in Pontoon a toe means you lose. Blackjack is one of those table games where a decision needs to be made and although that decision is only whether to draw a card which is called hit or to stand which means stay with what you have got, that decision can make a big difference to winning or losing. The dealer in blackjack will always follow the strict rule of drawing cards to anything less than 17 and standing on 17 or above. Interestingly enough, if you follow the same pattern of play you will notice that you go over 21 (called busting) on a good number of occasions which means logically that the dealer will also bust on a good number of occasions. Unfortunately the player always plays before the dealer and if the player busts they have lost regardless of what happens or might have happened to the dealers hand. This is the only edge that the house has in blackjack as a tie results in getting your money back. One of the tricks to winning at blackjack is still to be in the hand when the dealer busts and although there is no certainty to knowing when the dealer will bust there is always a clue in the single card that is showing from the dealers cards. There are five cards in each suit that have a value of 9 or more which represents some 38% which in turn means that a 4, 5 or 6 in the dealers hand will require the dealer to draw a card and there is a reasonable chance that he result will be more than 21. If this happens and you are still in the game with any hand at all (you do not need to have 17 or more) then you will win. As with any online casino table game luck plays a major role but it is worth looking out for the single card showing.
There are of course far more table games at online casinos and one of those which is not played that often but nevertheless is great entertainment is Baccarat or Punto Banco as it is also known. Baccarat has gained a reputation from somewhere as being a very sophisticated table game but that could not be further from the truth. There are in some land based casinos separate areas for high rollers and Baccarat is very popular there which is possibly where the reputation comes from but the game is pure luck with no skill being involved at all. It is also very simple to play as there are only two hands of cards dealt which are generally called the player and the bank which is where the alternative name of Punto Banco comes from. There are only three possible outcomes which are for either hand to win or for the result to be a tie and you can bet on any of the results. As a Baccarat player you do not even touch the cards as both hands are played by the dealer. This might seem strange and indeed it is as it is the only one out of all table games where the dealer draws cards or stands while playing both hands. There is nothing to worry about though as the rules are such that the dealer has no discretion about whether to draw or stand, the rules must be followed. Following Baccarat can be a bit difficult in the beginning as the value of a hand cannot exceed 9. This is achieved by deducting ten from any hand that exceeds 9 so for example a seven and a six which would normally be thirteen becomes three.
The whole section of table games at most online casinos contains a huge variety of casino games and even if you have never heard of some of them they could still be worth investigating.