Roulette, also known as little wheel game, is one of the most popular and iconic wagering games featured in virtually every online and land-based casino around the world. It is a simple yet exciting game with no skill required, and perhaps that’s the reason more and more gamblers continue to cherish this game day in, day out.
The roulette wheel was first invented in the 17th century by the French physicist and mathematician Blaise Pascal, during a search process aimed at creating a perpetual motion machine. Legends, however, believed Blaise Pascal invention was a primitive form of roulette that could only become the roulette wheel after modifications. As historians have it, the earliest versions of this wheel game had numbered pocket from 1-36 — but lacked zero until 1842 when Francois and Lois Blanc came up with a new table design of a roulette wheel, which included a zero. This redesigning breakthrough was specifically for the monarch King Charles III of Monaco.
Adding a zero on the wheel proved to be a massive deal that brought about a more savory house edge. The roulette wheel game was brought to the masses when Charles III build a casino, which helped generate a lot of income for his kingdom that was at some point facing financial problems. Roulette quickly spread throughout Europe and was considered an iconic symbol of Monte Carlo’s gambling culture. By the mid-19th century, this mysterious new game was incredibly popular in America.
Americans, however, wanted it more unique with a higher house edge, so they had to redesign the little wheel to add another zero. Now, the doubled zero style
roulette wheel had 38 numbers instead of 37. Unfortunately, cheaters (both gamblers and operators) found this game a good source of income, and this attracted a change in the table design in order to allow the roulette wheel to be placed on top — as a way of preventing frauds. After centuries of play, this layout was further simplified for quick bets and easier gameplay, as well as for croupier to make payouts. Today, the American roulette table design is the most accepted by a large number of casinos worldwide. Regardless of that, the European roulette still dominates in the industry.
While Roulette is an easy casino game with no complicated strategies and rules, the plenty of bets and odds options available can be confusing. The first step to knowing how to play roulette is, of course, to learn and understand the types of roulette bets in order to create your unique strategy with a good return on investment. Understanding the rules of the game is also another important aspect.
Let’s get started.
In roulette, there are 3 types of betting categories: Outside bets, Inside bets, and Call bets.
This category offers players a higher payout rate compared to the outside bets, meaning it carries more risk. Basically, the inside bets involve picks that are made from inside the rectangle, where you find all the numbers. The bets in this category include:
Straight Up (payout is 35:1) — you wager on any number on the table, and place the chip in the middle of the numbered square. Wins are only recognized when the ball lands on the number you picked.
Split Bets (payout 17:1) — you wager on 2 numbers either horizontal or vertical, and you win if either number turns up. Here, you’re supposed to place the chips on the line between the numbers, such as 5-13, 14-13, 16-25, 28-31, 10-11, etc.
Street Bets (payout 11:1) — players bet on any number within a row of 3 numbers. If the ball rests on any number within the trio, you win. Keep in mind that you should place the chip on a single horizontal line (right or left). For example, 4-5-6, 9-8-7, 34-35-36, etc.
Corner (payout 8:1) — four numbers need to form a square, and then you bet that one of the numbers will be the outcome. You can place chips horizontally or vertically.
Line (payout 5:1) — this is a six-number bet, where you combine two street bets and then place chips at the corresponding intersection of the 2 street bets. For example, 4-5-6 + 7, 8, 9.
Basket (payout 6:1) — you bet on the first four numbers, i.e, 0-1-2-3-4. You’ll place a chip on the corner, which is shared by the first line and zero boxes.
Snake Bet (payout 2:1) — a player needs to place a bet with the numbers 1, 5, 9, 12, 14, 16, 19, 23, 27, 30, 32, and 34. If you highlight the numbers, you’ll see that they form a snake pattern.
Top Line Bet (payout 6:1) — this type of bet has 5 numbers including the double zero (0, 00, 1, 2, and 3).
The outside bets are made on the roulette table perimeter, and are typically less risky but with a lower payout rate.
Red/Black — this is an even bet, where you predict whether a black or red number will win.
Even/ Odd — another even money bet, where you wager that the ball will land on an even or odd number.
High/Low — you bet that the ball will either fall within the low numbers (1-18) or high numbers (19-36). These are also even bets.
Dozens — bet involves a dozen numbers, and the payout for each dozen is 2:1. Well, there are 3 groups of numbers to bet on: 1-12, 13-24, and 25-36.
Column — you predict that the outcome will be a number within one of the 3 columns of 12 numbers on the table. For example, 3, 6, 9-36, or 2, 5, 8-35. The payout rate is double your bet, or 2:1.
You’ll find these types of bets on French and European roulettes. The most popular include:
Voisins du Zéro (Neighbors Bet) — to make this bet, you’ll need a minimum of 9 chips. The bet typically covers a single zero, as well as the seventeen numbers closest to the zero (22 to 25).
Tiers du Cylindre — here, you’ll have a list of 12 numbers (27, 13, 5, 24, 23, 10, 36, 11, 30, 8, 16, 33), and you’re required have a total of 6 chips to make a bet. Place one chip on each split: 33/36, 27/30, 23/24, 13/16, 10/11, 5/8.
Jeu Zero — you bet on the numbers 12, 35, 3, 26, 0, 32, 15 using 4 chips. One chip on bet straight up (26) and the remaining 3 chips on split 32/35, 12/15, 0/3.
Orphelins — your bet will have 8 numbers that include 17,34,6, 1, 20, 14, and 31. If you’re keen, you’ll see that all these numbers fall outside Tiers du Cylindre and Voisins du Zéro.
When it comes both European Roulette & American Roulettes, players can choose and change the direction of each wheel spin. They can easily place bets using the colored chips, which typically distinguish each player. And once the bets have been placed, the croupier usually halts betting to allow the wheel to spin, rolling the ball until it comes to the resting point (one of the pockets). The croupier collects the results; the losing bets as well as the winning bets. Then, it pays out profit to the lucky winners.
There are additional rules that don’t apply to both roulette styles. Well, let’s have a look at the following rules:
En Prison Rule
The Rule is applicable to even money betting, and offers two options when a player hits a zero. A player can reclaim half the bet and accept to lose the other half, or just leave the bet for the next spin for an all or nothing gamble’. If on the next spin the outcome matches the bet, you get all your money back. You lose the bet if you hit another zero, or fail to match the imprisoned bet.
La Partage Rule
Well, this European roulette rule is similar to the En prison rule — the difference is that, you accept to lose half your bet when you land the ball on the green zero. The rule is applicable to outside even money wagers — High/Low, Red/Black, Odd/Even.
The American Roulette style wheels have a double zero. If you place bets and hit any of the zeros, you’ll lose everything except only for a direct bet on the selected zero.
Roulette strategies can be categorized into either progression strategies or no progression strategies. In progression roulettes, a player is required to double their bet following a loss, or double the stake after a win.
When it comes to no progression roulettes, they feature positive and negative progression systems. There are some roulettes in this category, however, which don’t feature a progression — meaning your bet will remain flat no matter the outcome (winning or losing streak).
We’ve prepared a list of the most popular roulette strategy systems that are supported by European and American Roulette style. Just check it out and see which Roulette bets work best for you.
Martingale negative progression betting is one of the most popular systems, which typically relies on a player increasing his/her stake each time they lose. If you win, you get to recover your money and this helps keep your bankroll in the positive. Unfortunately, though, this strategy can drain your bankroll fast when you go on a losing streak. So, it’s generally advisable that you start with small wagers every time you use this strategy.
Martingale is commonly used in Red/Black betting or where odds are even, or very close to even as possible. The odds for European Roulette version are 48.6%, whereas the American Roulette 47.4%.
Also known as Split-Martingale, Labouchere is a cancellation betting system that’s popular with even/odd, Red/Black money betting, where a player works through a series of numbers — which will ultimately equal a profit.
First, you need to pick some positive numbers (technically this can take any sequence). These numbers will help you determine the possible winning amount. In each bet basically, the amount to stake should equal the sum of the last and first number on your list. For a successful bet, the 2 numbers are eliminated from the list. On the other side, where a player records unsuccessful bet, the lost amount is added to the end of the list. You will need to do this repeatedly until you’ve completely crossed out the list to win the desired amount of money.
The d’Alembert betting system is based on the assumption concept of equilibrium, in which the winnings and losses from bets eventually equal each other. In this system, a player adds a chip after he/she loses a bet and removes a chip when they have a winning bet. This is certainly a great betting system because the losing wagers will always be less than winning wagers.
In Fibonacci, players are presented with a sequence dictating that the next number is the sum of the previous 2 numbers. For example, the first eight numbers will be 1, 1,2,3,5,8,13, and 21. When betting, the number series will equal the amount of stake. And for every win, your stake is reduced to the previous level, which means a relatively low risk.
With the Oscar’s Grind betting strategy, you’re required to bet flat whenever you register a loss and double your bet following a win.
The parlay strategy is similar to Oscar’s Grind as it requires players to double their bets when they win and keep wagering the same amount after a loss.
There’s no doubt that roulette is a game of chance, however, there are a few tips and tricks that can help you win and minimize losses.
Go for European roulettes — The American roulette is designed with double zero, giving it a house edge of 5.26%. The house edge on European roulette table is 2.7%. Basically, a higher house advantage means the odds of winning are reduced.
Play at a reputable and licensed casino — it’s the best way to be safe from biased roulette machines, with rigged computer system against you.
Keep an eye on the previous rounds and sessions — this will help you make sound predictions for other rounds.
Check your table before playing — start with a free table to clear your doubts, and then play for real money when you get hold of the game and are confident enough.
Familiarize yourself with the betting strategies — try handfuls spins and see which strategy works best for you.
In short, the chances of winning at roulette generally depends on the house advantage, type of roulette bet you place, and the roulette strategy you use. For the better chances, you’ll want to consider playing roulette with a low house edge.
While there are a good number of benefits of playing roulette at a land-based casino, online roulette is by far an excellent option for a number of reasons:
After thorough research, we’re happy to say that we found 3 best online roulette games that every player will love to try out:
The European Roulette Gold is a Microgaming variation, which is designed based on the European Style of 37 pockets (1-36 and one zero). It offers a lower house edge of 2.7% and, therefore, casino players can expect higher winning odds. Whether it’s the inner bets (dozens), outside bets (Black/Red, 1-18/19-36, Even/Odd), or
internal bets (splits and straight up numbers, you have plenty of ways of winning in this game.
Why play European Roulette Gold?
The game is run on 3D graphics with pleasant atmosphere, so you’ll just feel like you’re playing a real roulette. With European Roulette Gold, you can save up to 8 different bet layouts for fast gambling. Well, these bets can easily be accessed at your preferred time. The exciting thing with this roulette feature is that, you can add and remove any of the existing bet, reset or simply undo the last action.
Microgaming’s French Roulette is also a 37-number wheel game with a single zero. What makes this roulette special is, it has a couple of unique features that are responsible for the low house advantage — giving players a better chance of winning.
It takes full advantage of the unique rule La Partage and En prison. With the La Partage rule, you can place an evens bet and if you hit the green zero, you’ll lose just half of your bet and not the entire bet. And this will, without a doubt, create a positive if not a great difference in your payout rate.
If you place a large amount of money and the ball lands on the green zero during an evens bet, you can opt for the En prison rule to get all your bets back instead of getting half. Nevertheless, it’s possible to lose the entire bet if you miss on the next spin.
Multi Wheel Roulette Gold, powered by Microgaming software, is one of the best European Style roulette game on the internet with 8 spinning wheels. It is well laid out with intriguing and superb features for a fantastic gameplay. Players are provided with an easy user interface and a rewarding 3D gaming escapade, where winning is real.
Well, it offers roulette enthusiasts a chance to place bets on more than one reel at a time whilst presenting them with more wagers across a table within a short time. Better yet, players can enjoy an extra dimension to their game as they’re allowed to activate all the 8 wheels at a time. Theoretically, this will give you a better chance to hit any single winning number. In a scenario where you land 2 or more wheels with similar winning numbers, only one corresponding number will be displayed.
There are dozens of online casino offering roulette, but for an optimal gaming experience, we’d recommend playing at the reputable Casino Rewards member casinos, such as Grand Mondial Casino, Captain Cooks Casino, Villento Casino, Zodiac Casino , Casino Action, Yukon Gold Casino, and Casino Classic. You can even play roulette at Luxury Casino where you can find the brand new slot game Thunderstruck Stormchaser. All these casinos offer very attractive welcome bonuses, which you can use to play roulette and win real money without risking your own.
There you have it! Be sure to follow our roulette guide to enjoy a whole lot of fun and entertainment at your favorite casino. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to share with us.