Roulette

For a game that has existed for over 400 years, it’s amazing that roulette is still going strong today. Roulette has adapted to the digital age so spectacularly that it has almost monopolized the world of real money live dealer games at online casinos.

Roulette may be a more solitary game, but it continues to be a fan favourite. This is true even at a time where dozens of casino games are created on a daily basis. Fun, strategy, excitement, and a multitude of betting options all lead up to the thrills of spinning a roulette wheel. This is a game where winners and losers are purely determined by a few bounces off the all-mighty roulette ball.

You don’t have to be a roulette wizard to win at this game, and you don’t need a plethora of roulette strategies. Unlike games of skills such as blackjack and baccarat, the game of roulette depends majorly on chance.

If you are new to online casinos, and roulette particularly, this comprehensive guide takes you through the nuts and bolts of the game. Here, you’ll get to know where this table game emanated, how to play, the rules, odds, and all the fundamentals that have made this game so popular for generations.

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A History of Roulette

As one of the most popular and easy-to-understand casino games, roulette has been a patron favourite since its invention about 400 years ago. Historians believe that this table game was invented by a French physicist, inventor, and mathematician named Blaise Pascal in the 17^th century. Pascal developed a perpetual spinning machine from which gave rise to the modern game of roulette. The roulette is a French name that means ‘little wheel.’

While Pascal’s version is the most referenced account, various stories suggest that the exact origin of the game is shrouded in mystery. Some evidence shows that many ancient civilizations played various games quite similar to modern-day roulette. For instance, there is a Chinese history of the game which argues that Dominican monks invented it.

This Chinese version of the game involved arranging 37 animals’ figurines into a magic square with numbers that totaled 666. Even today, all the numbers on roulette wheels add up to 666 – a feature that has branded the game ‘the devil’s game.’ Pretty cryptic, right?

Other accounts believe that the game originated in ancient Rome, and was used by soldiers as a way of killing time. Being a soldier at these ancient Rome was a torturous affair, and Roman commanders would let their soldiers have fun as much as possible to boost their morale. This included participation in gambling and drinking games.

The Roman version of roulette supposedly involved spinning a shield or a chariot, which is pretty close to how the game of roulette is played today. In line with this Roman version, it is also believed that Greek soldiers played the game. Their version of the game involved drawing symbols on the inside of their shields. Using their arrows, they would spin the shield and bet on which symbol the shield would stop as pointed by the arrow.

Regardless of what version is valid, France appears to take all the credit. The game’s name is French and is influenced by two popular games that were played in the country in the 17^th century. These games were called ‘Roly Poly’ and ‘Even-Odd.’ Both of these games involved spinning a wheel and betting on the outcome of the spin.

These versions of the game pretty much represent what is played today as roulette. The game involves spinning a wheel and betting on the outcomes of the spin. Odd and even numbers are involved as well as red and black colours. The French version included numbers from 0-36, but when the game spread to America, additional 00 numbers were added. Another colour, green, was also added.

Today, roulette is a staple in both land-based and online casinos frequented by low stakes players and high-rollers alike. The online versions are even better with immersive graphics and futuristic technologies that make the game more engaging and exciting. Mobile roulette takes the entire game into a new level, where convenience and variety are guaranteed.

How to Play Roulette

As mentioned previously in this post, roulette is probably one of the easiest, if not the outright easiest, games to play in a casino. Understanding the rules of this game is pretty straightforward, and you won’t break a sweat. A roulette game consists of a wheel, a small ball, and a printed table with the betting options on it.

If you are in a brick and mortar casino, there will be a dealer whose responsibility is to spin the wheel and control the table. If you are playing against your computer or on a mobile phone, the game will be controlled electronically. The results are determined randomly by an algorithm called a Random Number Generator (RNG), as it’s done while playing online slots.

Each game will consist of a round of betting, and the dealer will spin the wheel, drop in a white ball, and players will wait to see where the ball lands. Your objective will be to predict where the ball will land; whether on the colours, odds or evens, the numbers from 0 to 36, or the zero. After each game is completed and winners are determined, the game is reset. A new game then starts with a new betting round.  

The Roulette Wheel

Three parts of a roulette game are particularly important – the wheel, the table, and a ball. The wheel is the spinning circular area that is comprised of evenly sized pickets where the white ball normally spins and lands. Each space in the wheel has numbers between 1 and 36, and colours. If you are playing the American version (explained subsequently in this guide), there will also be a pocket with 00.

The wheel has either one or two green spaces, but this depends on which version of roulette you are playing. The sequence of the adjacent numbers will also differ depending on the type of roulette. However, on all wheels, whether American, European, or French, the colours black and white will alternate. You will never see two adjacent spaces in the same colour.

A Roulette Ball

The ball determines your luck in the game. When the dealer or operator spins the wheel, the ball is released and will bounce around the wheel until it settles in one of the designated pockets. This determines the winning number in roulette.

A Roulette Table

In land-based casinos, the roulette table is normally placed on the right side of the wheel. This is where you can place your bets and watch the wheel and ball as they spin and settle. Roulette tables are very similar with only the American version having an additional pocket for the extra green 00. The French version includes the bet names on the tables while the European variant includes only the numbers and colours.

A roulette table displays the range of numbers that you can bet on as well as the broader categories for the bets. This includes odds, evens, black, red, the lows (1-18) and the highs (19-36). This allows you to bet on a range of betting options instead of just making individual wagers on numbers or colours.

Different Types of Roulette Tables

Before placing a single bet in the game of roulette, it is advisable that you get acquainted with different types of roulette wheels and the distribution of numbers. Why? The wheel is the most essential part of the game, and it determines the outcome of every betting round. There are three standard roulette versions, including French, European, and American. Each of these is nearly the same with only slight (but important) differences.

French Roulette

Let’s start with French roulette because it’s perhaps the oldest version of the game you’ll find in an online casino. The wheel consists of 37 numbered coloured spaces that alternate in red and black. What you should understand about this game is that alongside numbers 1 to 36, there is one zero pocket as well, coloured in green. This is the reason why this version of the game is called “single-zero” roulette.

You will also notice that the betting options in this version of the game are also labelled in French. The numbers on the wheel start with 0 (green) then 32 (red), 15 (black) – in that order. Specifically, all the numbers in the French roulette follow this sequence:

 0-32-15-19-4-21-2-25-17-34-6-27-13-36-11-30-8-23-10-5–24-16-33-1-20-14-31-9-22-18-29-7-28-12-35-3-26.

Due to “half-back rule” on even bets, the French roulette has the lowest house edges of all roulette versions at 1.35%. Commonly known as the ‘La Partage Rule,’ this feature allows you to have half of your stakes returned for even money bets when the zero slot is hit. This feature is very favourable to players, and many casinos exclude this game from bonuses and promotions as a result.

European Roulette

European and French roulette versions are the same bar few rules and features here and there. Both versions feature a single 0 in green and are composed of numbers from 1 to 36. There are 18 red numbers and 18 black ones. The significant difference is that the French uses terminology unique to the French language and includes the “La Partage Rule.”

For this reason, the house edge for the European roulette is significantly higher at 2.70%. As with the French version, the numbers start from 0 (green) to 26, with red and black colours alternating. Noticeably, in this version of roulette, you are allowed to place some bets similar to the French version because the number patterns are the same.

American Roulette

This version is significantly different from the two previous versions of roulette. This is primarily because the American game of roulette has an additional 00 pocket which is also green. For this reason, the pattern of the numbers is considerably different from that of French and European wheels. The numbers on a wheel here go from 0 through 2 in the following format:

 0-28-9-26-30-11-7-20-32-17-5-22-34-15-3-24-36-13-1-00–27-10-25-29-12-8-19-31-18-6-21-33-16-4-23-35-14-2.

Because of the additional 00 pocket, the house edge in American roulette is substantially higher at 5.26%. While the house edge in European roulette can be reduced due to the application of French rules such as La Partage and En Prison, such provisions do not apply in the American version.

Different Types of Roulette Bets

After understanding the basics of the game as outlined above, placing a bet will be pretty straightforward. The best roulette strategy is to understand the game, monitor your bankroll, place your bet, and enjoy the thrills while the ball bounces. To round off this post, here are the types of bets and odds you can make on all the three versions of roulette:

• Straight Bet – This is betting on a single number, (35:1)
• Split – Bet splits two numbers, (17:1)
• Street – Covering three numbers in a row, (11:1)
• Line – Bet covers six numbers in two rows, (5:1)
• Dozen – Bet covers twelve numbers, (2:1)
• Column – Bet covers twelve numbers, (2:1)
• Corner – Bet covers four numbers, (8:1)
• Red/Black – Bet covers either black or red numbers, (1:1)
• High Numbers – Bet covers high numbers between 19 and 36, (1:1)
• Low Numbers – Bet covers low numbers between 1 and 18, (1:1)