The difference between a Call of Duty lobby and when you play Big Bass Bonanza may seem huge, but there may be more overlap than on first appearance.

Video games aren’t only about fast-twitch reflexes or escapism. They cultivate a set of abilities the more you play them, and these abilities are directly applicable to the sometimes turbulent casino environment.

Many strategy games force players to think ahead. In a way, all games are games, and they stimulate a similar part of the brain. Resource management games, for example, like “Age of Empires” teach effective allocation of in-game assets. Of course, this is totally relevant to the economic environment of a casino, in which players need to carefully manage their own resources to either maximize the length of playing, or maximize their enjoyment over a short spell.

Knowing how much to bet and when to increase/decrease the stakes is similar to adjusting in-game strategy. Likewise, many momentum players, which is common in eSports games like Counter Strike, may get a feel of when to ride a successful wave and when to bunker up.

Fast-paced action games demand quick reactions, and it actually improves your working memory. First-person shooters or racing games for instance build rapid response skills, but also an ability to process multiple inputs at once. In a casino setting, this may be looking at the dealer’s facing card in Blackjack, your own hand, and how much money is on the table as each new card gets turned over. Processing all this in seconds is something that gamers tend to feel comfortable with, just like checking your inventory when being attacked in Fortnite.

Certain puzzle games or “hidden object” titles significantly improve a player’s attention to detail, and this can help play optimally in a casino. Most games have a strategy to minimize the house edge, and staying focused on this is important. Perhaps the best example is noticing whether a deck is hot or not during Blackjack by having a feel for what’s already been dealt.

Video games are full of failure – most games are incredibly difficult, in which we face more failures than success. In fact, while the average KD is logically 1 in games like Call of Duty, the median is usually under 1, meaning more players are being killed more than getting the kills. The resilience built up to this failure helps translate in slot games particularly, because it prevents players from getting emotional during a loss and making changes to their game plan.

But what about in-game skill? Beyond p2p card games, there are actually more skill mechanics within casino games, even slot games, which are reducing the amount of RNG and increasing the amount of skill. This is a trend that is set to continue, which should favor gamers, and may even create a bigger crossover in terms of the game design itself. But as of 2025, there are plenty of puzzle-solving skills that are relevant to both types of games.