You know those players who consistently withdraw money from casinos while everyone else is depositing? The ones grinding quietly in the background, not chasing jackpots or posting screenshots on Twitter?
They’re not playing what you think they’re playing.
Elite online gamblers—the ones actually making money or at least breaking even long-term—avoid most of the games that casual players flock to. Here’s what they actually play and why.
Single-Deck or Double-Deck Blackjack
Why elite players play it:
The fewer decks in play, the better the odds. Single-deck blackjack can have a house edge as low as 0.17% with perfect basic strategy. Double-deck sits around 0.35-0.46%.
Compare this to six-deck or eight-deck shoes at 0.5-0.7%, and the difference becomes significant over thousands of hands.
What makes it “elite”:
Most casual players can’t even find single-deck games online. They’re rare because casinos know they’re vulnerable. Elite players specifically hunt for these games and avoid everything else.
They’re also tracking:
- Does the dealer hit or stand on soft 17?
- Can you double after split?
- Is surrender available?
- What’s the blackjack payout (3:2 required, never 6:5)?
One rule change can shift the house edge by 0.2-0.5%. Elite players optimize for the best rule combinations.
The catch:
Single-deck games often have lower table limits and stricter betting rules specifically because casinos know advantage players target them. You might find a single-deck game with a $500 max bet while eight-deck games allow $5,000+.
Elite players accept this trade-off. They’d rather grind smaller edges consistently than chase bigger bets with worse odds.
9/6 Jacks or Better Video Poker (and Better Variants)
Why elite players play it:
Full-pay Jacks or Better (9/6 paytable: 9 coins for full house, 6 for flush) has a theoretical return of 99.54% with perfect strategy. That’s a house edge of only 0.46%.
Better variants exist:
- Deuces Wild (full pay): 100.76% RTP (positive expectation)
- Double Bonus Poker (10/7): 100.17% RTP (positive expectation)
- Joker Poker (Kings or Better): 100.64% RTP (positive expectation)
What makes it “elite”:
Finding these paytables is hard. Most online casinos offer degraded versions:
- 8/5 Jacks or Better: 97.3% RTP (2.7% house edge)
- 9/5 Jacks or Better: 98.45% RTP (1.55% house edge)
Elite players know the difference between a 6 and a 5 on the flush payout, and they won’t touch the degraded versions.
The skill requirement:
Video poker requires perfect strategy execution. Every decision matters:
- Hold low pair or go for four-card straight?
- Keep two high cards or hold three to a flush?
- Break up two pair to chase a four-card royal?
Elite players use strategy charts. Casual players play by feel and donate 2-3% of their action back to the casino through mistakes.
The reality:
Even with perfect play on optimal paytables, video poker is a grind. You’re looking at $0-$5 per hour in expected value at $1.25 per hand (five quarters). It’s not glamorous. But it’s sustainable.
Poker (But Not Against the House)
Why elite players play it:
In casino poker variants (Caribbean Stud, Three Card Poker, etc.), you’re playing against the house. The house edge is built in, typically 2-5%. You will lose long-term.
In real poker—Texas Hold’em, Omaha, Stud—you’re playing against other players. The casino just takes a rake. If you’re better than your opponents, you profit despite the rake.
What elite players are doing:
They’re not playing $1/$2 cash games for fun. They’re:
- Table selecting obsessively – Finding tables with weak players, avoiding tables with other strong players
- Multi-tabling – Playing 4-8 tables simultaneously to maximize volume
- Tracking stats – Using HUDs (Heads-Up Displays) where allowed to track opponent tendencies
- Reviewing sessions – Analyzing hands with poker software to identify mistakes
- Bankroll managing – Never risking more than 1-2% of bankroll in a single session
The skill gap:
Online poker in 2024 is significantly harder than it was 10 years ago. The fish (weak players) have mostly been eliminated. Elite players are competing against other elite players, making tiny edges in small pots.
The players making money are treating it like a job:
- Studying 10+ hours per week
- Working with coaches or study groups
- Playing 500+ hours per month
- Constantly adapting to new strategies
If you’re playing casually for fun, you’re the one being exploited.
Where they play:
Elite players choose poker rooms based on:
- Soft player pools (recreational players with money)
- Reasonable rake structure
- Fast withdrawal processing
- Table software quality
- Rakeback or loyalty programs
Some grinders spend weeks researching which sites have the weakest competition at their stakes before committing to play there.
Sports Betting (With a Quantitative Edge)
Why elite players bet on sports:
Sports betting has no inherent house edge like slots or roulette. The “house edge” is the vig/juice (usually -110, meaning you risk $110 to win $100). If you can predict outcomes better than the betting line, you have an edge.
What elite players are NOT doing:
- Betting on their favorite teams
- Parlaying six games for a “big score”
- Trusting their gut on who’s going to win
- Following social media tipsters
What elite players ARE doing:
They’re running statistical models. Seriously.
Elite sports bettors are:
- Building predictive models – Using historical data, advanced stats, and algorithms to generate probabilities
- Comparing to betting lines – Finding games where their model disagrees with the market
- Calculating expected value – Only betting when they have a statistical edge
- Tracking closing line value – Measuring if they’re consistently beating the final odds
- Specializing – Focusing on one sport, one league, or even one bet type
Example:
Elite model says Team A has a 58% chance of winning. Betting line implies 52% (roughly -108 odds). That’s a +6% edge. Bet accordingly.
Do this across hundreds of games, and a 3-5% edge compounds significantly.
The arms race:
Sportsbooks employ mathematicians and data scientists. Beating modern sports betting lines consistently is incredibly difficult. Most “professional” sports bettors are either:
- Lying about their results
- Operating on tiny edges that require massive volume
- Exploiting soft lines in obscure markets (Korean baseball, lower-division soccer)
If someone tells you they’re crushing NFL betting, they’re probably full of shit.
Live Dealer Blackjack (With Specific Conditions)
Why elite players play it:
Live dealer blackjack offers something RNG blackjack doesn’t: the possibility of exploiting dealer behavior, card exposure, or technical glitches.
What they’re looking for:
- Dealer errors – Occasionally exposing cards accidentally
- Sloppy shuffling – In rare cases, card sequences can be tracked
- Dealer tells – Some dealers inadvertently signal weak/strong hands through behavior
- Camera angles – Occasionally cards are visible in reflections or poor camera positioning
- Software glitches – Early card exposure due to technical issues
Important caveat:
These opportunities are extremely rare. 99.9% of live dealer play offers no advantage over RNG blackjack. Elite players are constantly evaluating and quickly moving on when nothing exploitable exists.
The ethical line:
Exploiting dealer errors or camera issues is legal (you’re not cheating, you’re using available information). Colluding with dealers or hacking software is not. Elite players stay on the legal side of this line.
Most elite players aren’t even pursuing advantage play on live dealer. They’re just playing optimal basic strategy at favorable tables, same as RNG blackjack.
What Elite Players DON’T Play
Just as important as what they play is what they avoid:
Slots (Unless Advantage Hunting)
Regular slots: No skill component, high house edge (4-10%), extreme variance. Elite players avoid them entirely.
Exception: Must-hit-by progressives where the meter is close to the must-hit amount. Some advantage players hunt these specifically, calculating exact expected value based on meter position.
Roulette (With Rare Exceptions)
House edge is fixed (2.7% European, 5.26% American). No amount of betting systems or pattern recognition changes this.
Exception: Elite players might exploit biased wheels (manufacturing defects favoring certain numbers), but modern wheels and regular maintenance have essentially eliminated this.
Keno
House edge typically 25-40%. This is a donation, not a game.
Casino Poker Variants
Caribbean Stud (5.2% house edge), Three Card Poker (3.4% house edge), Ultimate Texas Hold’em (2.2% house edge) – these are all sucker games compared to playing real poker against other players.
Baccarat (Unless Counting)
Banker bet has 1.06% house edge. It’s not terrible, but there’s no skill component. Elite players would rather play blackjack where strategy matters.
Exception: Card counting in baccarat is theoretically possible but yields tiny edges that require massive bets to be worthwhile. A handful of advantage players pursue this, but it’s not common.
The Infrastructure Elite Players Use
It’s not just about game selection. Elite players optimize everything:
Bankroll Management
Standard rule: Never risk more than 1-2% of total bankroll on a single bet or session.
If you have a $10,000 bankroll for online gambling:
- Maximum blackjack session buy-in: $200
- Maximum poker session buy-in: $200
- Maximum sports bet: $100-$200
This allows survival through inevitable downswings without going broke.
Multi-Site Strategy
Elite players don’t put all their money on one site. They spread across 3-5 casinos:
- To compare lines (sports betting) or find best rules (blackjack)
- To access different bonuses or promotions
- To reduce risk of site shutdown or fund seizure
- To optimize for games each site does best
Withdrawal Optimization
This is where elite players separate themselves from casual players.
Elite players never leave significant money sitting in casino accounts. They withdraw regularly:
- After every winning session (if possible)
- At minimum, weekly
- Never keeping more than they plan to play in the next 24-48 hours
Why this matters:
Funds sitting in casino accounts are vulnerable. Site could shut down, terms could change, account could be flagged for any reason. Elite players move money off-platform immediately.
The problem: most casinos process withdrawals slowly (24-72 hours or longer). This creates a window where players often reverse withdrawals and keep playing.
Elite players target casinos known for fast processing. I pulled data from casino whizz com that tracks actual withdrawal times – the difference between sites that process in 2 hours versus 48 hours is massive when you’re withdrawing multiple times per week. Fast withdrawals eliminate the temptation to reverse and keep gambling.
Bonus Exploitation (Carefully)
Elite players use casino bonuses, but with extreme caution:
What they do:
- Calculate exact expected value of bonus vs. wagering requirements
- Only accept bonuses where the math works (rare)
- Track wagering progress to avoid violations
- Never take bonuses with terms they can’t meet
What they avoid:
- Bonuses with excessive wagering (50x+)
- Games restricted to high house edge options
- Low withdrawal limits that cap upside
- Bonuses that lock their deposit until cleared
Most casino bonuses are designed to lose you money. Elite players treat them as what they are: marketing traps with occasional math-positive exceptions.
Tax Compliance
Elite players track everything:
- Every deposit and withdrawal
- Every winning and losing session
- Dates, amounts, and locations
- Payment methods used
When you’re gambling for profit (or trying to), tax authorities care. Elite players consult tax professionals familiar with gambling income and maintain meticulous records.
Casual players ignore this until they withdraw $50,000 and get an IRS letter. Elite players are filing quarterly estimated taxes before that happens.
The Mindset Difference
Casual gamblers:
- Play for entertainment and excitement
- Chase big wins
- Bet based on feelings
- Get frustrated by losses
- Play for hours when winning, quit early when losing
Elite gamblers:
- Play for expected value
- Grind small edges consistently
- Bet based on math
- View losses as variance
- Set time limits regardless of results
The psychological difference is massive. Elite players are emotionally detached from outcomes. A losing session is just variance. A winning session doesn’t mean they’ve “figured it out.”
They’re playing a decades-long game, measuring results over millions of hands/bets, not individual sessions.
Can You Become an Elite Player?
Honestly? Probably not.
Here’s why:
Time investment: Elite players study 10-20 hours per week. Strategy, game theory, statistical analysis. This is on top of actually playing.
Bankroll requirements: You need $10,000+ minimum to withstand variance. Preferably $25,000-$50,000. Most people don’t have this to risk.
Emotional discipline: The ability to execute perfect strategy during a $5,000 downswing is rare. Most people tilt, chase losses, and deviate from optimal play.
Skill development: Blackjack basic strategy takes 20-40 hours to memorize. Video poker optimal strategy is similarly complex. Poker requires years of study. Most people aren’t willing.
Market efficiency: Every edge in gambling is under assault. Casinos adjust rules, betting lines get sharper, player pools get tougher. Maintaining an edge requires constant adaptation.
Bottom line:
If you’re reading this article thinking “I’ll start doing this and make money gambling,” you’re probably approaching it wrong. Elite players didn’t start with that goal. They started by getting obsessed with a game, studying it deeply, optimizing every decision, and gradually realized they’d created an edge.
By the time they’re “elite,” they’re not gambling for fun anymore. It’s work. Spreadsheets, bankroll tracking, session reviews, strategy adjustments.
If that sounds appealing, maybe you have what it takes. If it sounds miserable, just play slots and have fun. Nothing wrong with that.
The Games Elite Players Used to Play (But Don’t Anymore)
Worth noting what’s changed:
Online Poker (2005-2011): Used to be a gold mine. The “poker boom” brought millions of recreational players online. Elite players crushed them. Then Black Friday happened, player pools dried up, remaining players got better. Still profitable for top players, but the easy money is gone.
Daily Fantasy Sports (2014-2016): Early DFS was massively exploitable. Elite players built optimization models and destroyed casual players. Sites adjusted rules, player pools got sharper, edges compressed. Still profitable for the best, but way harder.
Esports Betting (2018-2020): New betting markets = soft lines. Elite bettors with domain knowledge in CS:GO or League of Legends printed money. Sportsbooks got smarter, lines got efficient. Edge shrunk.
Pattern: Every new gambling market starts soft and gets harder. Elite players jump in early, exploit the edge while it exists, and move on when it dries up.
Final Thoughts
Elite online gamblers aren’t playing:
- The flashiest games
- The games with the biggest jackpots
- The games advertised on casino homepages
- The games their friends play
They’re playing:
- Single-deck blackjack in the corner of the table games lobby
- 9/6 Jacks or Better video poker that takes three menu clicks to find
- Online poker at 6am when recreational players from other time zones are drunk
- Boring under-the-radar sports bets with 1-2% edges
It’s not glamorous. It’s not exciting. It’s math, discipline, and grinding tiny edges consistently.
That’s what elite gambling looks like. If you want that life, start studying. If you don’t, that’s fine—just don’t pretend you’re doing what the elite players are doing while betting $10 on red at roulette.
Different games, different goals, different results.
