Three of the most popular games played in online gambling sites are blackjack, poker, and slots.
Blackjack online is just like blackjack in bricks and mortar casinos. The idea is to beat the "dealer" in getting as close to possible to 21 without going over. The game of blackjack has been around for more than 300 years with the rules remaining largely the same over that entire time.
Online blackjack relies on both chance and skill, yet it is very easy to learn. Using a standard 52 card deck, the player and dealer are both dealt two cards. The goal is to get a hand whose cards' values add up to 21. In order to do this, you must be dealt an ace, because an ace is the only card that can have the value of 1. An ace can also have the value of 11. Face cards have the value of 10.
If a player's hand adds up to a value other than 21, he can choose to receive one card at a time until one of three possibilities is reached.
There are some finer points to the game, like what happens when both player and dealer reach 21, and when the dealer is required to "stand" and required to take another card, but the basic goal is to beat the dealer in getting closest to 21 without going over.
Online poker is hugely popular, with games like Texas Hold'em being among the most popular poker variations. The first step to playing poker online is learning the hierarchy of winning hands: royal flush, straight flush, four of a kind, full house, flush, straight, three of a kind, two pairs, one pair, high card. Most online casinos have plenty of free practice tables where new players can learn the ins and outs of online poker playing without risking any money, and it's a good idea to master these before moving on to actual games for money.
Slots are very popular online too, and though there is no strategy to pulling the lever on a virtual slot machine, there is a strategy to choosing to pursue bonuses or not. Success at online slots will depend on luck, and on mastering each game's payout tables. These tables tell you how much a machine pays for each winning combination. Some online slots have large jackpots, but smaller payouts for less valuable combinations while others spread the payouts more evenly. Serious online slots players tend to concentrate on machines that have the best payouts for the lower combinations. In general, bagging a few mid-sized wins is a better strategy than to keep holding out for a huge jackpot with astronomical odds.