France has given the casino landscape so much, it’s hard to comprehend. Just think about it: Monte Carlo, Baccarat, some early versions of Blackjack and Roulette! That’s 3 of the 4 pillars of casino.
With slots being the biggest pillar of course and ironically the one missing. Of all these, roulette is the dearest to us. The rolling ball has been inconic for centuries and is seen in many, many movies.
Tips at winning Roulette
Online roulette comes in all kinds of variations. From roulette with a progressive jackpot to the roulette wheel with two balls or one of the classic virtual versions. So everyone has their favourite roulette variant. And you can always play online roulette exactly the way you want.
Playing roulette in an online casino is no different from playing in a land based casino. Unlike the movies and some viral videos, betting all your chips on a single number isn’t the way to win at this game.
Mobile Wins takes you through the ins and outs of the classic table game. We delve deeper into how you actually play a game and what you need to consider.
We’ll tell you all about the different types of online roulette, where it’s best to play online roulette and what bonuses await online roulette players.
After all, it starts with this knowledge, unless you are really, really lucky of course!
The way to win at Roulette is to try to minimise your losses, rather than trying to win big in one spin. You can do this by placing multiple bets with different win percentages.
Lots of elements, but quite simple
When you see a roulette table game for the first time, it can be quite overwhelming. There are boxes and colours everywhere, and on the wheel you will find a lot of numbers.
But don’t be put off, because roulette is actually a pretty simple game. Especially if you know the rules, which is also why it is so popular and you can find it in almost every casino.
What you need to know is that you bet money on one of the boxes on the table, predicting where the ball will end up, so to speak. We will go into that in more detail in a moment.
Once you have placed your bet and everyone around you is also ready, the ball will start rolling on the roulette wheel and where it ends up is completely random.
If the ball ends up on the number you bet on, you get your winnings paid out as well as the chips you bet on. You can then have this paid out in cash, or you can bet again.
This is basically how roulette works, so it can’t get much easier than that. But if it were so simplistic, people would quickly get bored of it, which is why more elements apply to the game.
Bet on number or colour
You are not tied to one number when betting. You can also spread your bet across several numbers, which means you have more chances. The moment you do so, however, the payout in case of a win will decrease.
For instance, if your bet on one number is correct, you will receive 35 times your stake. If you bet on two numbers, the payout will drop to 17 times if the ball falls on one of the two numbers. And this decreases as you place more bets.
However, you can also bet on red or black. The numbers on the roulette wheel alternate in terms of background colour. So if you want to spread your chances even wider, bet on one of these colours.
However, the payout will then be a lot lower, as the win probability is of course greatly increased. Other options you can bet on are odd numbers, even numbers, high numbers or low numbers.
Always follow the croupier
With the aforementioned betting options, there is already more variety in the game. And know that if the ball comes to a halt, the croupier will first remove all losing bets from the table and then pay out the winning players. Only then will the winning bet that is still on the table be returned, so always wait for the croupier.
With that pointed out, you have a clear idea of the simplicity in which roulette is played. With this knowledge, you know enough to take a gamble on the roulette table and if you want to get more out of the game, we definitely recommend taking a look at the strategies.
History of roulette
When we say roulette is an old-fashioned casino game, we mean it literally: in fact, roulette is several centuries old. The history of roulette actually starts with the Italian game Biribi, which was developed in the early 18th century.
In Biribi, players could place a bet on a table with 70 different numbers, after which a sort of croupier would bring up one number in a bag of numbers and the player with the correct number would win a nice cash prize.
In the late 18th century, people in France converted this game to a wheel with the numbers 1 to 36, 0 and 00 (i.e. today’s American roulette). They named this game after its main component, the roulette, or French word for small wheel.
A few decades later, two Frenchmen in Germany introduced the wheel with only one 0, to compete better.
After this, both variants spread around the world, with the wheel with the 0 and 00 becoming popular in America and the wheel with the single 0 mainly used in Europe.
With the rise of the internet and the entry of online casino, even more different variants emerged such as multiwheel roulette.
Roulette variants
Whereas in the regular casino you often only have one type of roulette (and often only one table), in an online casino you come across many more roulette variants.
American roulette
You can recognise an American roulette wheel by the two green boxes. The single 0 and the double 0. In addition, the fixed red and black numbers from 1 to 36 are also present with the normal payouts.
The fact that there are two green boxes does mean that the chances of winning are lower than in the European variant. So the roulette house edge is greater. Playing American roulette for free? Anything but!
Playing European roulette
Like American roulette, European roulette has 1 to 36 in red and black, but only one green slot. Because there are 37 slots in total instead of 38 like in American roulette, your advantage is statistically greater in the European variant.
For the number fetishists: the house edge (the advantage for the casino) is 1 in 37 (2.70%) vs. 2 in 38 (5.26%) for the American variant.
After all, the latter has two green boxes in which the ball can land. However, playing European roulette for free is a pipe dream.
French online roulette
In terms of the wheel, French roulette is the same as European roulette, as it has only one 0, but all the numbers are in a different order. A minute other difference is that in French roulette you sometimes have an extra rule called ‘La Partage’.
This rule means that on a 50/50 bet on, say, red/black or even/even, you get some of your money back if the ball ends up on the 0 – an even bigger advantage, in other words. Playing French roulette for free? There’s not much difference!
Live roulette
Live roulette is the name for roulette games in the online casino managed by a real live dealer in a studio. You follow the game via a live video connection.
This live dealer, also known as a croupier, handles the wheel and the ball while you, the player, place your bet via the online casino’s website.
Multiwheel roulette
If you like more excitement, at some casinos you can choose to play multiwheel roulette. Simply put, this means that you place one bet on a table but play with two to maybe even eight roulette wheels at the same time.
Do pay attention to your bet, as each amount you place is thus wagered as many times as the number of wheels you play.
Multiplayer online roulette
If you want to get as close as possible to the feel of an old-fashioned casino, you can opt for multiplayer roulette. In this online roulette variant, you play with several people at the same time at the same wheel, see what others are betting or winning, and you can often chat with them too.
Online roulette for beginners
Roulette is one of the casino games that you intuitively quickly grasp. You place your chips on one of the betting options and then hope the ball falls correctly in the wheel. The rules around betting are a bit more difficult though, as you have many different betting options.
You probably know the options to choose red or black, even or odd and a single number. In addition, many different combinations are possible.
For instance, you bet on a group of three, four or even 12 numbers. Here it is important to remember that a high win gives a lower chance of winning and vice versa.
Depending on what you bet on and how much money you place, there are several online roulette strategies you can follow to increase your chances of winning or limit your potential losses.
For example, you can take a small profit or limit your losses by changing the amount of your bet each time.
The most important tip is to be careful with your money and not bet more than you can afford.
Taking it to another level
There are certain strategies that have proven themselves that you can use to optimise your game. Be sure to look for the Martingale-, Fibonacci-, La bouchere- and D’Alambert strategy and pick your favourite.
Remember that certain strategies require a lot of math or funds, so be sure to pick a strategy that fits your playstyle. There is even a strategy named after James Bond!
Most importantly, playing mobile roulette in an online casino is something that you should enjoy. So don’t spoil that by calculating everything!
Frequently Asked Questions about Roulette
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Online roulette you can play at just about any online casino. The number of tables and also the types depend on the game providers the online casino works with.
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That is possible. The question is whether this is smart. After all, you always lose one of the two bets. You can, however, bet on two numbers of different colours. Should you win, the win factor of 36 is probably enough to cover your loss on the other number.
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The difference is quite simple: a roulette system deals with what to bet on (e.g. even/even or number), while a roulette strategy deals with exactly how much to bet. Or vice versa. They often go hand in hand.
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Playing online Roulette is very similar to playing real roulette in your local casino. Roulette rules differ from game to game so the easiest way of finding out how to play roulette is to use the handy “Help” icon in each roulette game to read about the various types of bets allowed and how to place your bets. All of our Roulette games offer a Free Play option allowing you to get to grips with how to play roulette before starting to play roulette for real money.
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As opposed to roulette in an old-fashioned casino, you can basically play online roulette with numerous people at the same time. No need to crowd around a real table, everyone can easily place their bets digitally.
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That depends on the game rules of roulette variant you play. The European variant (and French in particular) have better payouts than the American variant (double zero).
The biggest profits are earned when you bet on a single number (36x). However, the question is whether this is a sensible roulette strategy.
Try to play for risk minimisation rather than profit maximisation.
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This depends entirely on your budget, the purpose of your session and how much time you have available. Do you want to play with a lot of risk for high profits or, on the contrary, minimise the chance of losing?
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The roulette ‘house edge’ is simply the advantage the casino (the house) has over you, the player. Because there is an extra 0 (or even an extra 00 in American roulette) in addition to the 36 standard numbers, you are at a slight disadvantage when betting on red/black or even/even. That house edge also applies to bets with smaller odds of higher winnings. As we showed earlier, in European roulette the house edge is 2.7%, while in American roulette it is 5.26% due to the extra 00 box.
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This varies from casino to casino and table to table. You can often join tables with VIP status where higher stakes are allowed. However, there are limits so that the casino cannot be drained. This means that, for example, the Martingale strategy also has its limits (if not its own budget). You can’t double down infinitely.
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At first you might think that all numbers are equal, but by playing with the neighbour game, certain numbers allow you to cover a larger area on the roulette wheel with your bet.
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Although it may sound like it, Russian roulette is definitely not a casino game. This ‘game’ is more likely to be found in violent movies, because in Russian roulette, a group of people have a revolver with one bullet and take turns pulling the trigger with the gun to the head. So Russian roulette always has one loser who – neatly put – is unable to play anything ever again.
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The neighbour game is an additional element, also called the race track, outside the normal roulette table. The neighbour game applies to bets on single numbers. The ‘neighbour’ numbers of your bet on the neighbour game count for winnings, but are only moved to the normal gaming area after a winning spin.
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Yes. Provided you execute the strategy well and have the budget to stick with it when times get tough. Don’t just go switching!
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Most people play online roulette for fun, for example with some lucky numbers or for very low stakes each time.
Because Roulette is a memoryless game of chance, no matter what roulette strategy you employ the mathematical probability of winning cannot be changed. Winnings from roulette systems and strategies are always going to be governed by the house edge and due to the random nature of the game, employing a roulette strategy will give the same odds of winning as not employing that strategy.
For serious players, there are a number of strategies you can use to maximise your winnings or minimise your losses. The best-known strategy is called Martingale and involves betting on red or black every time and if you don’t win, you double your next bet.
There are also about 10 other roulette strategies you can stick to to get the most out of your game.
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All of our roulette games have a “Free Play” option allowing you to play the games completely for free without risking a penny of your own money. Once you’re up to speed with how to play the game you can choose to play for real money at any time.