Roulette is perhaps one of the most popular casino table games of all time. Every land-based and online casino features at least one roulette table, and there’s always plenty of players interested in testing their luck. Whether you’re new to the world of online casinos and have no experience playing roulette or are seasoned player, this is the right guide for you.
Roulette was created in France in the 18th century. According to many historians, the game was created by Blaise Pascal while he was attempting to develop a perpetual motion machine. The present form was officially offered in 1796. The game was is believed to have been inspired by the Italian game of Biribi, which is combined with the gaming wheel invented back in 1720. The game reached the American soil in the 19th century, and the first online roulette was offered in the 90s.
Different roulette variants use slightly different tables. Let’s take a look at how different roulette tables look.
The two most popular roulette variations are European and American The difference between them is that the European version has one zero pocket, whereas the American has two. We have a full European Roulette guide, so be sure to check it out.
Both are equally entertaining, but the zeros slightly affect the house edge, with a lower house edge for the European version. The house edge of the European version is 2.7%.
The most popular version of European roulette is called French roulette. Players often love it because it offers the lowest house edge when compared to all other roulette variations – in fact the house’s edge is just 1.35%.
The wheel is the European wheel; it has 37 divisions and a single 0 (as opposed to American roulette which can have a double 00. Check out our full French Roulette guide here.
The American version of roulette is identical to the European one, except there are two zero pockets — 0 and 00. This means that there are more options to bet on, but that’s actually not a good thing from the payout perspective.
Due to having two zeros, American roulette has a higher house edge of 5.26%. We have a detailed American Roulette guide, so be sure to check it out.
If you’re new to roulette, the betting table might seem a bit complicated at first. However, once you start making bets, you’ll see that it’s actually quite easy to choose a bet and understand how it works. Choosing a bet is all about how much risk you’re willing to take. If you like to take big risks, you’ll place your chips on a single number. If you get it right, you’ll also receive a bigger win. However, the odds for winning that bet are also the lowest — 37 to 1.
On the other hand, if you like to play it safe, you could select one of the outside bets, such as odd/even. If you bet that the ball will land on an odd number, and it does, you’ll double your money, meaning the payout is 1 to 1. Low payout means the odds of getting it right are pretty good — 1 1⁄9 to 1.
When should you choose to play for free and when should you opt for playing with real money. Here we go with the main reasons for each of these options.
Most online casinos let you play roulette for free. This type of play is often referred to as demo play. The casino will give you fake money, and you can use it to place bets. Remember you can only receive real prizes when you place real-money bets.
So, why should you play roulette for free if there are no real prizes? Well, many players like to get familiar with the game and explore how the game works or test our roulette strategies before switching to real-money play.
Not committing any money with free games means you cannot lose any money !
If you’re new to online roulette, we suggest you try games for free first before switching to real money.
As soon as you feel confident to place real-money wagers in online roulette, make a deposit and start your session. You can choose from a range of deposit options, such as credit cards, e-wallets, bank transfers and more.
We suggest you start with small wagers and then increase later if you feel like Lady Luck is on your side. Alternatively, you can use some of the betting systems & strategies which are popular among roulette lovers, such as martingale and D’Alembert. We’ll explain how they work later in this article.
The most important thing to understand about real money roulette is that you cannot affect the outcome — it all comes down to your luck at the moment you’re playing the game. If you’re lucky, you’ll win money. Also, make sure never to chase losses, as that usually leads to losing even more money.
One of the most popular ways to play roulette in online casinos is with a live dealer. In live roulette games, a human dealer is streamed live from a special studio. Their job is to place the ball into the wheel, but they also act as hosts, keeping you entertained as you place bets.
So, how can you actually bet when the table and the wheel are real? The beauty of live dealer games is that they blend the virtual and the real. You’ll use special software to place digital chips onto the table, but you’ll watch the ball spinning in a real wheel.
There are dozens of live dealer roulette games nowadays, and almost every online casino features the live casino lobby. Playing with a real human adds to the level of entertainment and immersion and can make you feel like you’re in a land-based casino.
There are several betting strategies that you can use to keep track of your bankroll properly when playing roulette. Mind you, even when using these strategies, you still cannot increase your chances or gain an edge — they are mostly used for fun.
Martingale is the most popular strategy for roulette players. Essentially, you need to make an even bet (red or black is the most common option) and double up your wager every time you lose. As soon as you win, you need to return to your starting wager.
For example, if you bet $5 and lose, your next bet needs to be $10, and the bet after that $20, and so on. However, as soon as you win, you need to start with $5 once again. You’ll notice that every time you win, you’ll win $5 more than you lost in total. However, the downside is that when you lose several times in a row, you need to bet a lot of money, and casinos have upper betting limits.
D’Alembert is similar to martingale, as it’s also only applicable to even bets and follow the same pattern — increase your betting amount when you lose. However, the betting system is much flatter and less risky than martingale.
Let’s say that you start with $1 and lose. In that case, you need to bet $2 in the next round. If you lose again, increase your bet to $3. If you win in that case, lower the bet to $2.
In other words, you always need to increase or decrease your betting amount by your starting bet, instead of doubling up, like when using martingale.
There are some strategies that roulette players mistakenly use, believing that they will improve their success rate. But almost all of them have the complete opposite effect — to make players play even more and make bigger bets. This means that you’ll probably end up losing more money than you planned. Here are the three strategies you should avoid.
History tells you on which numbers the ball landed during the previous rounds. Some players believe that they can make deductions based on this. This is false, as there’s always an equal chance to land the numbers on every round.
Casinos regularly check their roulette wheels. Online casinos make sure that the house edge works in their favor (this is how casinos make their money), so it’s highly unlikely that there’s some kind of bias or calculation that will help you profit.
The systems we described above, and many others, are there for fun, and they cannot help you improve your chances. Roulette is really a game of chance and little if any skill comes into the equation.
Let’s take a look at some important tips as well as some of the most common myths associated with this enduring table game.
Many new players often wonder whether it’s legal to play roulette on the web. In general, online gambling is not regulated on the federal level, so states are left to decide on their own laws. There are several states that completely legalized online gambling, including online roulette. These include New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Michigan, and West Virginia. The good news is that many more states are currently in the process of legalizing this activity. After all, sports betting is now legal in 20+ states, meaning the same could happen to online casinos.
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