A Simple Guide To Roulette
It doesn’t get more exciting than roulette. Every graceful spin of the wheel brims with anticipation, and if chance isn’t on your side, there’s a fresh spin in seconds. The best thing about the game is that it’s possible to play without any experience. It’s not only as easy as slots, but it offers better payouts with the right roulette strategy, and is infinitely more glamorous. Learn how to get the most out of your game with our online roulette guide.
Gameplay Basics
Essentially, the game of roulette is made up a roulette wheel with numbered slots, and a roulette table with the same numbers, all according to the possible bets that players can make. The version of the game you play, American or European, decides how many numbers appear. Basically, placing a bet means deciding which number you’ll land on after you spin. This goes for bets placed roulette at a real money online casino as well as offline.
Live Dealer Roulette
These are exciting times for roulette players. Many online casinos now offer live dealer games, so you can win real money with bets right from your home. Unlike traditional online roulette games, which plays like a video game, live dealer roulette broadcasts an interactive roulette table featuring a live human croupier onto your computer. Experience all the thrills of a captivating human dealer spinning a real wheel before your eyes. It’s as authentic as it gets.
Place Your Bets
Roulette games revolve around a roulette wheel, which features 36 red or black numbers arranged non-sequentially and corresponding slots beneath each number. When you place a bet in a game of roulette, you’ll be guessing where the ball will land. Every table features a grid containing all the numbers that appear on the roulette wheel.
Betting outright on a single number is known as a straight up bet. You can wager on a single number by placing chips on that number, but you can also bet on multiple numbers by spreading your chips around onto individual numbers. That’s only one of many ways to hedge your bets. Here are the others:
- You can place your chips on the line that borders two numbers for a split bet.
- The corner bet spreads your wager over four numbers.
- A street bet on the edge of a row lets you wager on all three horizontal numbers in that row.
- A line bet lets you play two adjacent street bets or six numbers at once.
Most new roulette players quickly notice that the numbers on the felt and table are arranged in three columns and a dozen rows.
- Place your wager on any of the 2:1 boxes to bet on all the numbers in that column.
- You can bet on a dozen numbers at a time using the 1st 12, 2nd 12, or 3rd 12 boxes. You’ll be wagering on 1-12, 13-24, or 25-36 respectively.
- Choose the black or red box to bet on the colour.
- Bet whether the number will be even or odd using the designated boxes.
- Select the 1 to 18 box for a low bet or the 19 to 36 box for a high bet.
The roulette wheel differs slightly between the European and American versions of the game when you spin. The difference is the addition of an extra ‘00’ slot, which slightly reduces your odds of winning. Given a choice, always play European roulette, unless you get a rush out of defying the odds even further. Finally, some casinos offer ‘racetrack betting’, which allows you to make wagers on particular parts of the wheel. You can bet on individual numbers or three physical sections known as Tiers du Cylindre, Orphelins, and Voisins du Zero.
Roulette Strategies for Real Money Play
Even though roulette is a fairly simple game, it’s still important to know the odds and payouts of a bet before placing it, so that you can decide which variant of the game is best for you. It’s not all down to random chance. You can make the most of your bankroll by learning a little roulette strategy.
Understand, for example, that in European roulette betting on single number pays out at 35 to 1, though the odds of hitting that number are actually 1 in 37 due to the inclusion of the 0. This gap is how casinos make their money.
Refer to this roulette odds and payout table as you play:
| Bet | Payout | Odds (American) | Odds (European) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Odd or Even Number | 1:1 | 46.37% | 48.6% |
| Black or Red | 1:1 | 46.37% | 48.6% |
| 1-18 | 1:1 | 46.37% | 48.6% |
| 19-36 | 1:1 | 46.37% | 48.6% |
| 1-12 | 2:1 | 31.58% | 32.4% |
| 13-24 | 2:1 | 46.37% | 32.4% |
| 25-36 | 2:1 | 46.37% | 32.4% |
| Single Number | 35:1 | 2.63% | 2.7% |
| Two Numbers | 17:1 | 5.26% | 5.4% |
| Three Numbers | 11:1 | 7.89% | 8.1% |
| Four Numbers | 8:1 | 10.53% | 10.8% |
| Six Numbers | 5:1 | 15.79% | 16.2% |
| 1-2-3-0-00 | 6:1 | 13.16% | - |
As you can see in the table, you have the chance to win £3500 betting £100 on a single number. Of course the odds of that happening are only 2.7%. Meanwhile, you can double your money betting on black with almost 50:50 odds. It all comes down to how much you can handle, but most people tend to make a combination of bets as part of their roulette strategy.
Where to Play
For some gamblers, the thrill of a live casino — the senses, the atmosphere, and the people — beats any kind of convenience. But more and more players are turning to online casinos and have some amazing things to say about the top roulette venues on the net. In fact, people new to online gambling are often surprised that topics like placing bets are actually better explained at online casinos than in their land counterparts.
Online roulette games also offer more budget flexibility, as well as things like free spins and bonus cash that you just can’t find offline. Remember, both options make use of a random number generator (RNG), so your odds are the same either way. Of course, nothing’s stopping you from experiencing both, but if you want to take the chance to play roulette online, you certainly won’t be disappointed.
Staying Safe at Online Casinos
On or offline, you’re free to make as many bets on roulette as you choose within the limits, depending on your roulette strategy. Minimum bets start at ten pence or less, and maximum bets for high rollers go well into the thousands. However, we strongly recommend learning to manage your bankroll, because pacing yourself is part of any effective gaming strategy.
Our expert tips on bankroll management at online casinos are simple but effective. First, set realistic limits on real money bets before you spin the wheel and don’t exceed them. As your funds diminish, make increasingly smaller bets to make your cash last longer. And of course, remember that every streak of lucky chances comes to an end, so bank your winnings while you’re ahead. In the end, gambling is only fun when done responsibly, because financial stress is a real buzzkill.
Finally, if you or anyone you know is experiencing problem gambling, there are many organisations that can help. GambleAware and GamCare both offer advice on finding support.
Spin the Roulette Wheel
Playing online roulette games at a real money casino certainly contains the element of chance, but strategy plays a role, too. Study the above odds table and use it as a cheat sheet while you play to maximise your results, especially if you’re new to the game. Remember, roulette is a great way to get to know the world of online gambling, but an even better way to get your feet wet is by taking advantage of free play and bonus cash to try out the game before committing.
What are you waiting for? Place your bet on the table, spin the wheel, and allow yourself the chance at winning big.
