First played in France, the game derives its name ‘Roulette’ which in French means ‘small wheel’. It first appeared in Canada around 1758 with the initial wave of mass French immigration. Online Roulette made its entry into Canadian online casinos around 2002.
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The basics of Roulette
The game of Roulette, either played online or in a land based casino is built upon the same principles. Depending on where you are playing, Roulette is played on a wheel which features either 37 or 38 slots and it also features a small, usually white or silver ball. This ball must land in one of these slots once the wheel is spun by the croupier. The croupier, (the dealer), who represents the house, takes your bets and pays should you happen to have predicted the correct outcome. Simply put, correctly guessing where the ball will finally land means that you are the winner of that round. It could not be any simpler than that!
Perhaps it is the simplicity of the game then which makes it so popular at both online and land-based casinos to this day. When the rules are as basic as this, everyone has an opportunity to get in on the winning action.
Variations of Roulette
European Roulette – European Roulette is the most commonly-offered version of Roulette at casinos in Europe and many other parts of the world. The wheel has only a single zero, rather than a single zero and a double zero. You’ll find European Roulette games at most online casinos.
American Roulette – American Roulette is the version of the game you’ll find in most casinos in the Canada and the US. It’s basically the same as European Roulette apart from one significant difference: the wheel has a single zero and a double zero. Again, you’ll find it available at most quality online casinos.
French Roulette – French roulette is also very similar to European, although the betting board is laid out a bit differently. The same betting options are available with the same payouts, and there’s only the single zero. The major difference is that it offers a host of combinations for Inside bets, with French names. If you want to have a look at these bets, click either “advanced player”, “Neighbour bets” or ”Announce bets”, depending on the software provider of the online casino in which you are playing.
Roulette Table Layout
The Roulette Table is quite standard across all variations of Roulette. American Roulette has one more field, for the double zero. Both American and European versions clearly show the inside and outside bets, and the numbers are coloured correspondingly to the slots on the wheel. The French Roulette Table is the most different as it has a slightly different layout and features the bet names in French. Importantly, they are only minor differences that do not impact the return-to-player percentages. Take a look at the three different table layouts in the graphic below.
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The Logic of the Wheel Layout
By becoming intimately acquainted with the layout of the Roulette wheel and table will certainly help you get a better grasp of Online Roulette and eventually assist in becoming better at it. The order of the numbers on the roulette wheel has nothing to do with their arithmetic value. This is one of the secrets that makes roulette such a balanced game – in theory at least. The sequence of numbers is carefully designed, and serves to complete several tasks at once;
- The sequence is confusing. It is extremely difficult to take a look at the wheel and see any relationship between the numbers and sectors. It’s impossible to notice any bias, and bet on a specific sector as a result. Although professionals know how the sequences go, to the naked eye of the casual observer, it all looks completely random.
- Red and black ALWAYS alternate completely. No matter the type of wheel, two adjacent pockets should always have different colours.
- Low (1-18) and High (19-36) numbers usually alternate as much as possible. You will rarely see a low and a high number next to each other in European roulette – the only exception being 5 and 10. The American wheel is not as organised and there are many low and high numbers that are adjacent to each other. This is why the European wheel is known to be the better balanced of the two wheels.
- Even and Odd numbers are evenly distributed along the wheel.
How to Play Online Roulette
Bets are placed on the table in Online Roulette, identically to a land-based casino. You can choose how much you want to bet on the spin by clicking on the different domination chips in the window, and then clicking on the bet you choose to make. Bets can range anywhere between a dollar to several hundred dollars.
Once you have placed your bet, press the spin button. The Roulette wheel will begin to spin and after a few seconds the virtual ball will fall onto the wheel. Where and when the ball stops will determine if your wager has won or lost.
Types of Roulette Bets
Placing a bet is the most exciting aspect of Roulette. Once a bet has been placed, the wheel is spun and the ball is dropped into play. Here are the range of possible bets:
Outside Bets
- Colour Bets – These are also known as red or black bets. You may bet that the ball will land on a red or black number.
- High / Low Bet – A high bet is considered to be between 19 and 36 and a low bet is between 1 and 18.
- Even / Odd – With this bet, you may select an even or an odd number for the ball to land on.
- Dozen Bet – This bet covers a dozen numbers in order, covering the ball landing between 1-12, 13-24 or 25-36.
- Column Bet – These bets are on three columns of numbers and you may predict which one to include on the next spin.
- Line Bet – A bet made covering two rows of three numbers. For example, 7-12 or 31-36.
Inside Bets
- 5 Bet – With this bet, you wager on a group of numbers such as 0, 00, 1, 2 and 3.
- Corner Bet – This bet looks at the ball landing a number within one of the three columns of 12 numbers.
Column 1 covers the numbers 1, 4, 7, 10, 13, 16, 19, 22, 25, 28, 31, 34.
Column 2 the numbers 2, 5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, 23, 26, 29, 32, 35 and;
Column 3 the numbers 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24, 27, 30, 33, 36.
- Street Bet – Bet on a number within a row of three, such as 1,2,3 or, 7,8,9 or 10,11,12 etc etc.
- Split Bet – Place a bet on a line separating two numbers allowing you to split the bet between them.
- Straight Up – Select a number for your bet and if the ball lands there then you will win outright.
- 0 or 00 – This bet has the highest payout as it gives the house the edge.
Online Roulette Strategies and Tips
Knowing how Roulette works at a statistical level is critical to your success. There are a lot of possible bets you can place, and each one of them has its own chance of success and payout. Betting on a single number yields the largest payout, but its probability is the lowest. Alternatively, bets that have odds of winning close to 50% yield the least but are the safest to bet on.
You can also split your bet to cover more numbers, thereby increasing your chances of winning. Do not make the mistake of constantly betting on only one number – that works only in the movies. Familiarise yourself with all possible bets and odds, and devise a strategy that is safe on one hand, and prone to earn you some cash on the other. See below some of the more popular strategies;
The Martingale System
This strategy, (as all other Roulette strategies, only applicable for even money bets), is to double down when you lose to reduce losses. This is called the Martingale System, and is a very good way to slowly increase your winnings. Important to remember is that the house edge means that each bet comes with a 47.4%-win probability. Therefore, doubling down your stake may end up in a major loss if you don’t have enough cash to take you through to a win.
Three Column Betting
The next step-up in odds is on 1-12, 13-24 or 25-36; or on the three columns starting 1, 2 or 3, which pay 2/1 and have a win probability of 31.58%. Here strategists may consider hedging bets by placing equal stakes on two of the three columns (or blocks) and doubling up with every non-winning spin. It’s quite similar to the Martingale System, but with a 63.2% chance of winning on each spin.
Bond Strategy
Some clever strategies can cut risk even further. A famous example is the Bond Strategy. In this system, if you had CAD$100, for example, you would bet CAD$55 on the high numbers, CAD$40 on the first third and CAD$5 on zero for insurance: this covers 31 of 37 numbers and gives an 83.7% chance of ending up with a win after the spin.
D’Alembert System
The D’Alembert System is essentially a more cautious version of the Martingale system. Before you begin to play, you decide on a “base wager”, possibly CAD$1, for example. Every time you lose, you add another base wager, and every time you win you go back to betting your base wager amount.
How to Choose your Favourite Online Roulette Game
Choosing your favourite online Roulette game isn’t an easy task, but we hope the options outlined in this guide have given you some inspiration to have fun with.
Encompassing the key features of online Roulette games, our guide should give you everything you need to choose a good online casino that suits your personality. A good casino should offer as many Roulette versions as possible, including American, French and European Roulette. Why not try out the many different online Roulette game options at great online casinos.
Good luck!
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