Think You’ll Enjoy Spinning the Wheel? Read our Guide to Online Casino Roulette
Picture yourself playing in a casino for one moment. What game are you playing? We think it’s very likely you’ve chosen the game of roulette. For many people roulette is the first game that springs to mind when thinking about casinos. It’s a game of pure luck and there’s really no strategy you can use to increase your chances of winning. But it has nevertheless become one of the most popular casino games. When you first start to gamble at a casino online roulette is a good starting point. But even if you play just for the entertainment value, having a basic understanding of the game is going to make it more fun. If you’re planning to play online casino roulette for real money, in the hopes of winning every now and then, an in depth knowledge of the game is bound to be an advantage. Even the best online casino roulette games aren’t going to be too challenging but you’re going to find the whole experience very compelling. Roulette is actually one of the oldest casino games so let’s start with a short history lesson.
Where does the game roulette come from?
The word roulette means little wheel in French. The first roulette game was devised in 18th century France but a more primitive form of the game was introduced in the 17th. A guy called Blaise Pascal is who got the ball rolling, so to speak, in his search for a perpetual motion machine. In its present form the game of roulette has been played since the late 1700s. One of the first documented references to the game can be found in a French novel titled La Roulette, ou le Jour, written by Jaques Lablee. In the novel, a roulette wheel was described as being in the Palais Royal in Paris. Roulette wheels used in the Paris casinos in the late 1790s had red as the colour for the single zero and black for the double zero. This was causing confusion so the colours were changed to green starting in the 1800s. A single zero style roulette wheel was introduced in 1843 in the German spa casino town of Bad Homburg by fellow Frenchmen Francois and Louis Blanc. Early forms of American roulette, referenced in the 1886 Hoyle gambling books, used wheels featuring numbers 1 through to 28, plus a single and a double zero and an American Eagle. The Eagle slot, a symbol of American liberty, brought the casino extra edge as it was the house slot. This tradition did, however, fall out of favour and now features only numbered slots. During the 19th century, roulette spread all over Europe> and the US. it very quickly became one of the most famous and popular casino games. The German government abolished gambling in the 1860s and the Blanc family moved to the only legal casino left operating in Europe at Monte Carlo. And it is here where they established a gambling mecca for the European elite. The single zero game became the number one roulette game and it found it’s way all over the world. Except for the United States, where double zero wheels have remained the most dominant. If you wanted to play at a casino during the first part of the 20th century you would have to travel to Monte Carlo, where the single zero game was played. Or Las Vegas where the American double zero game was played. Casinos began to flourish around the world by the 1970s and it was possible to play roulette in one of several hundred casinos. The number of casinos has been reduced in more recent years and now the most popular way to play roulette is at an online casino.
The rules for playing at the best online roulette casino
The idea behind the casino game online roulette is to predict in which slot the ball will land. All sounds pretty simply, and really it is. Even the betting system is not too complicated. But there are a number of different bets you need to learn. But before you place your bet you have to choose a betting limit. It’s entirely up to you what that is, but don’t make it more than you can afford to lose. A cent, a penny, a couple of dollars or a few pounds, or more if you fancy your chances. When you’ve chosen you place your chips on the table and when you play online this involves clicking on the numbers you want to bet on. ‘No more bets’ will be called and the wheel will start spinning and the ball tossed in. When you play at a casino roulette online, this will be all be done virtually, unless you’ve chosen to play live dealer roulette. So what are the different bets you can place?
The different roulette bets you can place
Basically, the different types of bet can be split into two categories, inside and outside bets.
Inside bets
- Straight up – betting on a single number with a payoff of 35:1
- Split -betting on two neighboring squares with a payoff of 17:1
- Street – betting on three neighboring numbers with a payoff of 11:1
- Six line – two street bets combined with a payoff of 8:1
- Corner – betting on four neighboring squares with a payoff of 8:1
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Outside bets
These bets can be found on the left hand side of the betting table.
- Dozens – these are bets of a series of numbers, 1 to 12, 13 to 24 and 25 to 36 with a payoff of 2:1. It’s also known as a double bet.
- Colours – bets as to whether the ball will land in a red or black slot
- Odd and even – placing a bet on whether the number the ball lands in will be an odd or even number, with a payoff of an even 1:1
- High and low – this is a bet as to whether the ball will land in a slot between 1 and 18 or 19 and 36 and again the payoff is 1:1
- Columns – as you might expect this is a bet on one of the numbers in one of the columns and the payoff is 2:1
The betting system isn’t too complicated and you should now be able to understand what bets to place.
There are different types of roulette games you can choose to play
If you want to play the casino game online roulette, you’ll generally have two versions to choose from, American and European roulette. There are a range of variations of these two games and a number of other variants as well but European and American are the two most popular. They might sound like they’re completely different but in essence they are one and the same. The only real difference is in the number of slots. An American roulette wheel has 38 slots, as opposed to the 37 slot European roulette wheel. The extra slot is number 00 and coloured green. Another variation of the game you might encounter is French roulette. It has a single zero, like European roulette but if your ball lands in that slot and you didn’t bet on it you lose half your bet. There’s also an ‘En Prison’ rule, but we’ll look at French roulette in more detail on another page. Multi-ball roulette is another version that sees three balls being used at the same time. And let’s not forget live dealer roulette with a real roulette wheel, real dealer and action that takes place in a real casino, albeit a studio.
What are the benefits of playing roulette at an online casino?
There are a number of benefits if you choose to play at the best online casino for roulette, as opposed to a land-based venue. Convenience is the most obvious one. After all, there aren’t that many of you who will have a casinos you can call local. You won’t have to worry about hoards of other players jostling to play at the tables, or have to queue for a game. There are no opening hours at a roulette online casino. You can play whenever you want to because it’s open 24/7. You can even take the roulette wheel with you wherever you go. The best online casino to play roulette will be one that’s mobile compatible. Playing the casino game online roulette means you’ll never have to wait for other players to place their bets. Making the play much faster. There is, however, one exception. When you play live dealer roulette you’ll have to wait for other players to place their bets. Compared to a land-based casino, the wagers are much smaller and you can also play for free if you really want to. Playing roulette at an online casino means you’ll be able to take advantage of the casino bonuses. One great bonus you might want to consider is the loyalty reward program that the majority of online casinos offer. Let’s finish up by sharing our top tips.
Top tips when it comes to playing roulette at an online casino
Start with odds or evens – if you’ve just started playing casino online roulette, our advice is to start your bets with odds or evens. This is the simplest of betting systems and starting with odd or even will increase your chances of winning. And also give you the time to watch the game and learn how it works.
House edge – if you choose to play American Roulette remember the house has a much higher edge, all thanks to the double zero.
Number tracking – spend some time in the beginning watching and keeping track of the numbers that pop up most frequently. It’ll help you get a better feel for the game and increase your confidence.
Payout odds – before you place your bets you need to find out what the payout odds are. It’ll help you make the most of your budget and make the wisest betting decisions. The most sensible direction to take is one that combines good game opportunities with the best chances of a good payout.
Now you’ve finished reading this basic introduction to the game of online roulette you’re ready to start playing. But first you’ll need to find the best online roulette casino. You’ll find all the information you need to make an informed decision by reading some of our casino reviews.
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