If you’re an online gambler, then the chances are you have a lot of options to choose from. Whether it’s using traditional fiat currency at your favourite online casino or crypto wagering online at one of the many new sites that allow people to bet with blockchain finance, there’s always somewhere you can place your bets.
However, it isn’t just about where you play, or even about what you play. One of the key questions that any gambler has to ask themselves is whether or not the bet they are making is the right one for the situation they find themselves in. Here’s a look at why how you bet can be as important as, if not more important than, what you bet or when.
Low-Risk, Low-Reward
There are three sorts of bets that a gambler can make, depending on their playing style. If someone wants to keep things steady and play for a relatively long time, they can go for a low-risk, low-reward type of bet. There are, as their name suggests, wagers where there is a good chance of winning but, as a result, the odds are pretty short. If these suit any particular sort of player, it’s someone who is a gambling casual. They aren’t going to be betting all the time and will do it as much as a distraction as a hobby. Quite often, they’ll choose these sorts of wagers as a way to keep their bankroll going and maintain their interest in playing.
An example of this would be betting on red in roulette. Since there is slightly less than a 50 per cent chance of this bet winning, this can be a great shout for someone who doesn’t want to worry about losing too much. A similar bet might be going with the banker in baccarat, which usually has a 51 per cent strike rate and a small odds line.
One of the games with the lowest house edge at any casino will usually be blackjack, and a player who uses smart tactics will know when to make a small bet that may not make them rich, but has a better chance of winning and keeping their bankroll alive. 
A similar principle even applies to sports betting. Favourites win most of the time – even if in multi-participant events, such as horse racing, the waters are muddied somewhat – so someone who focuses on the favourites could well be doing it as a low-risk, low-reward strategy.
Medium-Risk, Medium-Reward
In the middle, there is the medium-risk, medium-reward type of wager. While they are not as consistent as the low-risk, low-reward bet, they are still not the riskiest pieces of gambling you’ll find out there. As a result, their payouts are somewhere in the middle. This strategy often suits more strategic players who don’t want to go crazy with wild bets, but also don’t want to simply gamble on everything.
If we go back to the roulette wheel again, it’s time to move on from the simple, black or red, and odd or even form of wager. Instead, let’s take a look at the middle-ranking roulette bets. If you bet on the dozens or on columns, then you are taking part in a medium-risk, medium-reward bet. The overall payout for these is going to be about two to one, so there’s a chance that you could win a decent amount of money. With that, however, comes an increased risk of losing your cash.
When it comes to blackjack, doubling down is, with the right strategy, a medium-risk, medium-reward bet. If you do this, doubling your blackjack bet after seeing the hand you were dealt and getting just one more card, you make things riskier. You could go bust, or you could get a low-scoring card that doesn’t raise your tally by enough to win. However, there is more of a chance to win big – because you’ve just doubled your stake – than there would be with a normal hand.
With sports betting, you can move on from predicting who is going to win. You could, instead, take part in spread betting, for a medium-risk, medium-reward style of play. This involves choosing a range of how many points your preferred team is going to win by, so if the side wins but by not enough points, or by too many points, then you’ve lost your bet. Here, the medium risk comes from the fact that you are, in effect, placing two bets at once, one for the winner and the other for the score. And the medium reward is about a decent-sized, but not massive, payout.
High-Risk, High-Reward
Finally, there are high-risk, high-reward bets. These bets suit high-rollers, people who like to take big risks and go large or go home. As their name suggests, there’s a good chance you’ll lose your stake, but if you’re lucky, you could win a substantial amount of money.
In terms of roulette, the obvious high-risk, high-reward bet is the single-number bet. This has a one in 37 chance of landing in European roulette and, with a payout of around 35 to one, it can lead to big wins. However, someone who wants to play this way could find themselves waiting for a winning spin for a long time.
Similarly, some of the side bets on offer in blackjack are high-risk, high-reward. Pairs bets, especially the perfect pair bet of two identical cards, pay very well – up to 100 to one – but don’t happen very often, leaving the player risking their bankroll to score.
Sports betting has the accumulator type. A collection of bets which all have to land for the bet to succeed, these are the most popular high-risk bet category for more casual gamblers, paying well but, again, carrying a lot of risk. 
So there you have it. There are many different types of bet at an online casino, and how you bet all depends on your overall gambling style. No matter what you do, though, never gamble more than you can afford to lose and make sure to set your limits and stick to them.
