Ready for a spin? Roulette is arguably the most iconic casino table game and one of the most popular, and of course, it is no different online.
Like with poker or baccarat, the French were deeply involved in the creation of the game. Roulette means “tiny wheel”. It later evolved towards what is commonly known as the American roulette.
- Online Roulette layout
- Online Roulette betting
- Inside Bets
- Outside Bets
- French Bets
- Play Online Roulette free
- Play for real money
- Where to play real money online roulette from the US
- Online Roulette strategies
Online European roulette will give you 20 chances to lose and 19 chances to win, giving a 2.7% edge to the house, and there is only a single 0 green pocket in European roulette.
American roulette will give you 20 chances to lose and 18 chances to win, almost doubling the house edge to 5.26%, as there is an additional 00 or double-zero green pocket.
Very much like blackjack or baccarat, you can play online live roulette if you feel more comfortable this way. As the online casino you will be playing at will always have an edge on the game, online roulette strategies tend to boil down to adjusting the size of your bets and trying to catch streaks through martingales.
Online Roulette layout
- The European roulette has a single 0 green pocket – surrounded by the 32 and 26 pockets.
- American roulette has a 0 green pocket – surrounded by the 28 and 2 pockets – and an additional double-zero pocket – surrounded with the 1 and 27 pockets.
- The pockets of the roulette wheel are numbered from 0 to 36 in the European version and from double-zero to 36 in the American one.
- Red pockets are the odd numbers in the 1 to 10 and 19 to 28 ranges and even numbers in the 11 to 18 and 29 to 36 ranges in both versions.
- Black pockets are the even numbers in the 1 to 10 and 19 to 28 ranges and odd numbers in the 11 to 18 and 29 to 36 ranges in both versions.
Given there is one green pocket fewer in European roulette, this is the most profitable version of the game, even if the online casino still has an edge. A triple-zero green pocket has been live in the Venetian in Las Vegas since 2016.
Online Roulette betting
Fortunately, you can adjust your bets and the odds you are betting on when you play online roulette.
Inside Bets
Inside bets means you are betting your chips in the inside table where the numbers are displayed. In other words, you are betting on a combination of numbers or a single number.
- The Single or Straight bet: Your bet is single or straight when you bet on a single number. To do so, just place your chips entirely on the square of the number. This bet rewards you 35 to 1 but is also very unlikely to hit (36 to 1 to be exact.)
- The Split bet: when you bet on numbers that are adjacent in the inside table. They can be vertically or horizontally adjacent. 33 and 36 for instance or 17 and 18.
- The Street bet: when you bet on three consecutive numbers of an horizontal line in the inside table. 1-2-3 or 25-26-27 but not 20-21-22. The Corner or Square bet: when you bet on four numbers that meet at one corner in the inside table layout. 31-32-34-35 or 1-2-4-5.
- The Six Line or Double Street bet: when you bet on six consecutive numbers from two horizontal lines.
- A Trio bet is the same as a corner bet but with the 0 square at the top involved. As such, you are betting on either 0-1-2 or 0-2-3 on the European version of roulette. A First Four bet is a bet on 0, 1, 2 or 3.
- A Basket bet is the same as a First Four bet but in the American version. Your bet wins if the number is 00, 0, 1, 2 or 3.
Outside Bets
When you place an outside bet, you place your chips outside the numbers section on the sides of the table. These bets are on average way easier to win than inside bets.
- You can bet on the 1 to 18 – also called Low or Manque – or the 19 to 36 range – also called High or Passe.
- You can bet on the red pockets or the black pockets.
- You can bet on even or odd – Pair or Impair which are the literal respective translations of even and odd.
- You can make a Dozen bet which means that you chose to bet on ranges that count twelve numbers. On the table you will see sections P12, M12 and D12. P12 is the first dozen from 1 to 12, M12 is the dozen from 13 to 24 and P12 is the last dozen from 25 to 36.
- You can bet on a column of numbers in the inside table.
- In some online casinos, you can make a Snake Bet which is much like a column bet with the column going sideways between both sides of the table.
French Bets
French bets require players to place a minimum amount or a multiple of this minimum amount on designated adjacent numbers on the roulette wheel and not on the inside betting table.
- Voisins du zero (neighbours of zero) refers to the numbers from 22 to 25 included, going through 0 on the wheel.
- Le tiers du cylindre (the third of the wheel) refers to another part of the wheel, different from the Voisins numbers, ranging from 27 to 33 both included.
- The orphelins (orphans) are the numbers that are not included in the Voisins nor in the Tiers du cylindre.
Play Online Roulette free
Even if you have had the opportunity to play several games of roulette at your local casino, playing roulette for free is always a nice way to start and find out if playing online is for you.
The best online casinos out there will always have a free roulette offer, so do not hesitate to try and get acquainted with the pace of online playing.
Given roulette is really graphic and fun to play as such, you can even try some roulette simulators online or play on social media to get a feel for the game.
Play for real money
Now you have played a few games of roulette for free, you are ready to play online roulette for real money.
It is always important to keep in mind that online casinos will always have an edge over you, no matter the online roulette version you are playing. However, the competition between online casinos is fierce and you will always be able to take advantage of that.
This is the reason why, before performing your first deposit, you should make a sound market study and find out the best deposit bonus for you. There should even be some no-deposit bonuses which are an even nicer transition from free play.
Once you know which deposit bonus is for you, determine a playing budget or playing bankroll and stick to it! To keep online roulette fun, it is important to manage the risk you are taking by never staking more than you can afford to lose.
Once you have determined a playing bankroll amount, serious gamblers never put more than 5% of their playing bankroll on the table. You should stick to that rule of thumb as much as possible to avoid turning your online roulette experience into a losing one.
Where to play real money online roulette from the US
- BetOnline
- El Royale
- RedDog
- Bovada Casino
- Wild Casino
Online Roulette strategies
Online roulette strategies are focused on betting size as this is virtually the only parameter you have power over. As such, it is important to size your bets wisely according to your winning odds and spread them across various more likely outside bets.
If you play online roulette in one of the reputable and licensed casinos available, the wheel will be truly random. Randomness means that streaks are only the result of random series. The most accepted mathematical perception of this is that, it’s not because something has happened a lot, that it won’t happen again and again.
Every and each spin of roulette does not depend in any way on the previous spin, every event is independent statistically. This is important to mention because most martingale strategies rely on exactly the opposite perception, that is why you should be wary of using martingales in your online betting strategies other than for having a fun shot at a big win.
Do not base your decisions on previous events or series of events, do not play more than you can afford to lose, choose your first deposit bonus offer after researching the different legal and trusted casinos out there and you will have fun playing roulette online.