Guides
Guides to Social Casinos, Odds and Casino Games
Plain-English guides to social casinos, odds, house edge and how casino games work, with real numbers and honest answers. Virtual coins only.
These guides answer the questions people actually ask about free casino-style games: what a social casino is, whether it is gambling, what the odds mean and how to keep play in check. Every number about our own games comes from the game engines and matches the Odds page. Everything is about virtual coins, which have no cash value.
Start here
New to the category? Begin with What Is a Social Casino? Plain-English Guide, then Are Social Casinos Gambling? What the Law and Research Say for the law and the research, and Can You Win Real Money on Social Casino Apps? for the question most people really want answered.
How games and odds work
Guides on return to player, house edge, how slots, crash and mines work, and why no betting system beats the house edge. A good first one is How cash-out games work. Plain definitions are in the Glossary.
Comparisons
How a social casino differs from a real-money casino and from a sweepstakes casino lives on the Comparisons page.
Spending and safety
Social Casino Spending: How In-App Purchases Work explains what you buy and how refunds work, and How to Set App Spending Limits on iPhone shows how to block or limit in-app purchases on iPhone. If playing stops being fun, see the Responsible play section.
How games work / 7 min read
Are Casino Games Rigged? How to Tell and What to Check
Casino games are built to favour the house, openly. What rigged really means, why variance feels like cheating, and how to check a game's published odds.
How games work / 7 min read
Baccarat Rules and Odds: Player, Banker, Tie
Baccarat rules in plain language: card values, totals, the third-card rules, and the exact odds and payouts for Player, Banker and Tie in our version.
How games work / 7 min read
Blackjack Basic Strategy Chart for Our Rules
A blackjack basic strategy chart worked out for Cashout Arcade's exact rules: hit, stand or double for every hand, the close calls and what bad play costs.
Social casino basics / 4 min read
Can You Win Real Money on Social Casino Apps?
No. Social casino apps use virtual coins with no cash value, and Cashout Arcade pays no prizes. Why some apps differ, and the warning signs of scams.
How games work / 7 min read
Cash-Out Ladder Games: Road Hop, Tower and More
How step-by-step cash-out games like Tower and Road Hop work: survival chance per step, how multipliers are priced, and full tables for every mode.
How games work / 7 min read
Crash Game Strategy: What Works and What Does Not
No crash strategy changes the 3% house edge. See each target's hit chance and bankroll risk, why signals fail, and how to set sensible limits.
Social casino basics / 4 min read
Do Social Casino Games Lead to Real Gambling?
What surveys show about social casino play and real-money gambling, why the evidence is only correlational, who may be at risk, and how to stay in control.
Social casino basics / 4 min read
Free Casino Games for iPhone: Types and What to Expect
What free casino games on iPhone really are, the main types from slots to cash-out games, what you can win (coins only), and how to play safely.
Social casino basics / 4 min read
Free Slots Explained: How They Differ From Real Slots
How free slots work, whether their maths matches real-money slots, what bonus rounds do, and what the numbers look like in two real slot games.
How games work / 7 min read
Gambler's Fallacy and Streak Myths in Casino Games
The gambler's fallacy is the belief that a result is due. See how common streaks are on roulette and coin flips, with exact odds, and why games forget.
How games work / 7 min read
House Edge Explained: How Casinos Make Their Money
The house edge is the share of each wager a game keeps on average. See the maths for roulette, craps and baccarat, and our 3% games, ranked by edge.
How games work / 7 min read
How Ball Drop Games Work: Pins, Buckets and Risk
How Ball Drop works: a ball falls through rows of pins into buckets. See the bell-curve odds, what low, medium and high risk change, and exact tables.
How games work / 3 min read
How cash-out games work
How multiplier and cash-out games such as Mines and Crash set their payouts, why every cash-out costs the same 3%, and what that means for your play.
How games work / 7 min read
How Crash Games Work: Multipliers, Cash Out, Odds
How the Crash game works: the climbing multiplier, the hidden crash point, how cashing out locks in a multiplier, and the exact odds of each target.
How games work / 9 min read
How Slot Machines Work: Reels, RNGs and Payouts
How slots pick results: the random number generator, weighted virtual reels, hit rate vs RTP, bonus rounds and why machines are never due.
How games work / 7 min read
How the Mines Game Works: Tiles, Multipliers, Odds
How Mines works: a 25-tile board, 1 to 24 mines, a multiplier built from exact odds and the forced cash-out cap, with a worked 5-mine example.
How games work / 7 min read
How to Play Craps: Pass Line, Odds and Bets
Learn craps rules in plain language: the come-out roll, the point, pass and don't pass with exact odds, and how the four bets in our version are priced.
Social casino basics / 4 min read
How to Set App Spending Limits on iPhone
Block or limit in-app purchases on iPhone with Screen Time and Ask to Buy, check your spending, and use the spend limit and breaks inside Cashout Arcade.
How games work / 7 min read
Jacks or Better Video Poker: Pay Table and Strategy
Jacks or Better video poker explained: how a hand plays, our pay table, which cards to hold with the exact value of each choice, and what a bad hold costs.
How games work / 6 min read
Keno Odds Explained: How Many Numbers to Pick
Keno odds with the real maths: exact hit chances for 1 to 10 picks, our pay tables at three risk levels, why every pick count returns 97%, and myths.
How games work / 8 min read
Martingale and Betting Systems: Why They Fail
Do betting systems work? Martingale, Fibonacci and others change the shape of your risk, not the house edge. Worked maths and a simulation show why.
How games work / 6 min read
Mines Game Strategy: Tips That Hold Up (and Myths)
What holds up in Mines strategy and what is a myth. Exact odds per target, how mine count and picks trade off, why predictors fail, and sensible limits.
How games work / 7 min read
Provably Fair Explained: Seeds, Hashes and Limits
Provably fair games let you verify each result with seeds and hashes. How commit-reveal works, a worked example, and what it cannot prove.
How games work / 7 min read
Roulette Odds and Payouts: European Wheel Explained
Roulette odds and payouts on a single-zero wheel: the exact chance of every bet, why each has the same edge, and what our version pays against a casino.