Roulette is one of the casino’s best online casino real money games. The game of the “Little Wheel” captivates high stakes gamers and budget players alike who enjoy the challenge of trying to predict into which pocket a thrown ball will land in a spinning roulette wheel. There’s no skill in predicting where the ball will fall – that’s a matter of chance.
But if you understand the intricacies of the betting table and the different game variations, you can increase your odds of achieving bigger and better payouts.
Roulette
The practice of spinning a wheel to generate random outcomes was a part of many ancient societies including those of China, Greece and Rome. But it was only in the 17th century that the luck-based betting game was formalized, thanks to French Mathematician and physicist Blaise Pascal, whose attempt to invent a perpetual motion machine via a spinning wheel evolved into an early roulette wheel.
By the 18th century the game of roulette had developed fixed rules and was a favorite game choice among visitors to the opulent French Rivera casinos of the era. Standardized rules gave players a fun gaming event and the varied betting options offered wagering options to fit any preference.
In the 19th century a game variation that added a pocket to the wheel was introduced to American players. Called “American Roulette”, a double-zero pocket was added to the original wheel’s single pocket which created a wheel with 38 pockets instead of the original’s 37 pockets.
Both versions gained worldwide popularity and casinos soon featured both options. Roulette’s popularity soared when it was featured in movies such as 13, Croupier, Winning Streak and especially in the James Bond series.
Thanks to the advent of electronic and online gaming, today’s roulette enthusiasts can play both American Roulette and European Roulette from the comfort of their own homes. You can play online roulette exactly as you’d play roulette in an on-site casino with the added advantage that there are no table limits in online roulette – you can play at a betting level that suits your individual bankroll.
Both on-site and online roulette use the same betting table which means that, if you understand the different types of bets, you’ll be able to develop strategies that will help you win more.
Betting Table
The roulette betting table is a layout that displays all possible bets you can place during a game of roulette. On the betting table you’ll see:
- A number grid that displays inside bets. Inside bets are bets placed directly on a single number (“straight up bets”), splits (two numbers) streets (rows of 3 numbers), corners (four numbers) and six-line bets (six numbers in two rows).
- A number grid that displays outside bets. Outside bets are placed on a group of numbers like red or black bets place on the color of the predicted number, odds or evens bets placed on the prediction of whether the number will be odd or even, high-low bets placed on numbers from 1-18 (low) or 19-36 (high), dozens bets placed on the first dozen numbers (1-12), second dozen numbers (13-24) or third dozen (25-36). Columns bets, placed on one of three vertical columns of numbers, is also an outside bet.
You’ll place your bet based on your prediction of which pocket the tossed ball will fall into. Outside bets usually pay even money (1:1) though the dozen and column bets pay 2:1. Inside bets are riskier, because the likelihood of the prediction being accurate is less than that of an outside bet. However, the payouts for inside bets are higher – up to 35:1 for a straight-up bet on one number.
Winning Strategy
Choosing a winning strategy will depend, largely, on the type of player that you are. You’ll need to decide whether you prefer to aim for frequent, smaller payouts or whether you want to achieve higher payouts that come less frequently. If you’re looking for the more frequent payouts you should focus on outside bets and place inside bets when you’re looking for the higher payouts that come less frequently.
Casino advisors have differing opinions regarding the best way to win more in roulette but the majority seem to agree that it’s best to focus on outside bets. Even though outside roulette bets do not lead to big wins, by betting on the red/black, odds/even and high/low, your overall odds of finishing with a healthy payout average are greater.
One piece of advice that all roulette advisors agree on is that you shouldn’t get involved in any strategy that encourages you to place bets based on the results of previous bets. Strategies like the Martingale system, the Fibonacci System, the Paroli System and others advise you to assume that, after losses, you’re “due” to score a win and that you should bet accordingly.
Roulette games are games where the results are completely random and therefore, no results can possibly be based on previous results. Such “systems” may sound logical but in fact, they give you no more of a chance of winning your bet than any other random guess.
American Vs. European Roulette
An American roulette wheel has 38 pockets while a European roulette wheel has 37 pockets (a zero and a double zero in the American roulette wheel and only one zero pocket in the European roulette wheel). That means that your odds of winning on an American roulette wheel are lower than those of a European roulette wheel. So….always choose European roulette for your roulette gaming fun!
Play roulette with winning strategies and enjoy a gaming experience of fun, excitement and real money wins.
