Roulette

Features

One of the newest developments in the online roulette world is the addition of live dealers, which is called Live Dealer Roulette. 

This hot new addition has been gaining in popularity and can be found in many online live casinos.

Live dealer roulette is broadcast from land-based casinos, from studios, or even on television.

Regardless of where these games originate from, you will find that they all provide a level of authenticity that you won’t find on computer-generated roulette games, or more commonly called RNG Games.

Real live dealers with real-time results are what you can expect to experience when you play live dealer roulette.

Live Dealer Roulette History

The game of roulette as we know it today had changed little from when it was developed by the French over two centuries ago. The name itself means “small wheel”. 

The French mathematician named Pascal is credited with its invention in the 17th century. 

Some believe that his inspiration came from ancient Rome, where Roman soldiers who were always looking for new entertainment found a new game of chance. 

It is believed that they took chariot wheels, turned them sideways, and made them into implements for gambling.

Where Did Live Roulette Come From?

The game of roulette reached England around 1820 and later made its debut in America. 

The first modern roulette wheel had pockets numbering 1 through 36, along with zero and double zero. 

Frenchman Louis Blanc is credited for creating the first single-zero roulette wheel in the mid-1800s. 

He introduced this game in his gambling hall in Germany, and because of the better odds for gamblers, the game quickly gained popularity. When Germany later outlawed gambling, Blanc went to Monaco at the request of Prince Charles and opened a casino. 

With some political influence, the railroad was extended, and general services were expanded to Monte Carlo. As a result of this, Monaco became the premier gambling destination in Europe. 

Blanc’s casino was the only casino which offered roulette until the mid-1930s.

In the meantime, the double-zero version of roulette made its way to the United States where it became the game of choice in the frontier. 

It was a big hit during the California gold rush years, where fortunes were won and lost on a daily basis. 

The game of roulette is now played in virtually every gambling house in Europe and the Americas.

Differences Between European Roulette and American Roulette

The European version involves a small ball and a wheel with slots numbered from 1 to 36 and a zero. The American version adds a double-zero, making the number of slots 38 instead of 37.

While this might not seem like it would make much of a difference, the addition of the double-zero actually increases the houses’ odds considerably.

On both the European and the American roulette wheel, the numbers alternate between red and black, and pairs of even numbers alternate with pairs of odd numbers.

In North American casinos, roulette is usually set as a table for seven – six players and one dealer. The roulette wheel is set to the side, at the corner of the table.

In Europe, there are often three, and sometimes four, dealers, with the head croupier sitting on a chair above the wheel and the other dealers on each side.

This roulette wheel has a central location, with betting layouts on each side. This can accommodate more players, which is important, due to its popularity.

Play Live Roulette

Live roulette is an easy game to play, and there are only a few rules that you need to learn before you start to play. 

It is as simple as picking a number, or group of numbers, and then placing your chips on those numbers. 

All that you do next is wait and watch as the roulette wheel spins. Once the number is determined on the wheel, you can collect your winnings and play again. 

With the variety of roulette games that are available online, you can be sure to find your perfect game which brings fun and enjoyment.

Roulette uses a special wheel, betting layout, and chips. The dealer (or croupier) manages the wheel and all of the bets. 

A small ball is thrown against the rim that surrounds the roulette wheel as it is spinning, and rolls or bounces until it finally comes to rest in on of the number sections (or pockets), which indicates the winning number. 

The object of the game is to guess which number the ball will land on when it finally stops.

The wood and metal bowl-shaped wheel is divided into 37 sections (or 38 in the US), where each section has walls to hold the small ball where it lands after the wheel is spun. 

The sections are number 1 to 36 (half are red, and half are black, half odd and half even) plus a green section marked 0. 

The European wheels have only one green section marked 0, while the American versions have an additional green section marked 00. 

This addition greatly increases the odds in favour of the house.

Roulette is a banking game, where all bets are made against the house. There is no limit to the number of players who can play. If you can reach the table, you can play. 

Roulette is the only table game that does not use regular casino chips. Since the bets are placed on a common layout, and not in front of the player, the dealer needs a different system where he will be able to keep track of the player’s bets. 

When you purchase your roulette chips, you can assign to them any denomination that you would like. 

These coloured chips are only good at the roulette table and do not have any value anywhere else in the casino.

Players bet on the layout for a single number, group of numbers, or colour which they expect to win. 

After all of the bets are placed, the dealer (or croupier) tosses the ball along the rim of the wheel in the opposite direction that the wheel is spinning. 

After the ball comes to rest in a winning number pocket, the bank pays or collects from each player. 

Once the financial transactions have been completed, bets can be placed for the next round.

You can place bets before each spin of the wheel, as long as you meet the minimum bet requirement. You can also place as many chips on the table as you like, up to the maximum limit. 

The minimum and maximum table limits are set and posted at each table.

Since each player is “assigned” different colour chips, there can be multiple bets placed on each spot on the layout.

The dealer accepts bets in between spins and even after dropping the ball into the wheel- until the ball starts to slow down. 

The dealer will then wave his/her hand hover the betting layout and say “no more bets”. When the winning number is determined, the dealer places a marker on that number of the betting layout. 

The losing bets are cleared off of the table, and the winning bets are paid. 

When the dealer is ready for the next spin, he will announce “place your bets”. One important thing to remember is that you must always wait until the dealer’s okay before placing a new bet.

Placing and paying bets to make roulette take longer between rounds than other table games. The pace won’t be as fast as craps or blackjack, but the game is easy-going, relaxed, and dignified.

Live Dealer Roulette Betting Strategies

Live roulette is a fairly easy game to play, but in order to get the most fun out of your game, it is important to understand the betting and payout process. 

This starts with learning about the layout of the roulette table, what each numbered or lettered box stands for, which boxes on the table have the largest payouts, and which betting options give you more “bang for your buck “.

The basic layout of the roulette table contains 49 boxes: one of each number coloured red, black, or green to match the colour of that number on the wheel. 

There are also eleven boxes around the perimeter for special bets, such as Red or Black, Even or Odd, or High or Low. 

Any bets placed on a specific number are called “inside bets”, and all other bets are called “outside bets”.

Live Dealer Roulette Winning Strategies

There is no fail-safe strategy which you can use to ensure that you will succeed at live roulette every time that you play. 

Since it is a random game of probability, there is not much that can be done to enhance your probability to be successful. 

You can find, however, a couple of tips that will help you remain in the game a little bit longer and improve your odds of being successful against the house.

One of the things that you can do to give yourself the best chance to win is to learn to play smart roulette. 

Always look for tables that have the best odds, like a European table rather than an American table, or stay away from the “Quint” bets. You will find that learning a few basics of roulette will definitely help you to have a lot more fun and a better chance to win.

Payoffs in roulette are based on a wheel with 36 numbers, so if you make a straight-up bet on the 7 and win, then the payoff is 35 to 1. Since there is a zero on the wheel, the odds change from a true odd of 36 to 1 to one which favours the house, which is the 35 to one bet. 

The European wheel gives a 2.7% advantage to the house, while the added double-zero on the American wheel gives the house a 5.26% advantage (except in the quint bet, which gives the house an almost 8% advantage. Since the zero and the double zero are both green, then they are losers on the Black and the Red bets. 

The only exception to this is where some casinos offer “surrender” or “en prison”. In this case, half of the amount of any Even Money Bet is returned to you if the zero (or double-zero) is the winning number. 

This significantly reduces the house advantage by almost half. Because of this, not many European casinos offer “surrender” since the house edge is so low, to begin with.

 Check with the dealer though to find out if the casino does indeed offer surrender.

Serious roulette players usually prefer to play outside bets because even though the payouts are smaller, the probability of winning is higher. 

All in all, the best way to improve your odds is to play on the European wheels, or single zero. This eliminates the very bad quint bet.

There are “urban legends” of the possibility of a “biased” wheel while playing roulette; in other words, a wheel that favours certain numbers. While there may be a biased wheel or two, the bias would have to be very great to overcome the house advantage. 

However, it is very unlikely that you will find a wheel with a bias since the wheels are made with such precision today. 

To be honest, the casinos have a vested interest in maintaining their mechanically-induced randomness.

The reality is that winning and losing in roulette often takes place in streaks. 

If you do happen to find a system that is working for a time, stay with it while it lasts and then gets out as soon as it starts taking a turn for the worse. 

Remember, roulette is a game of chance, not skill. So, lay down your chips, sit back, and enjoy the leisurely pace of the spinning wheel.

Live Roulette Odds

Each bet has its own payout. The outside bets are normally even money for Even/Odd, Red/Black, or High/Low and pay two to one for column or dozen bets. 

The inside bets range from five to one on a six-number bet to thirty-five to one on a straight bet.

 Keep in mind that no matter what you do, the house edge is roughly 2.7% for single-zero roulette or 5.26% for the double-zero wheel.

Combination Bets in Live Roulette

Inside Bets (Straight Up) payout 35 to 1. Place chip on any single number.

Split Bets payout 17 to 1. Place a chip on the line between any two adjacent numbers. If either number comes up, you win.

Street Bets (Trio or Three Number) payout 11 to 1. Place chip on a horizontal line across the top of the layout on any of the 12 columns of 3 numbers.

Quad Bets (Corner Bets) payout 8 to 1. Place chip between any four number groupings.

Quint Bets payout 6 to 1. This is only possible in American Roulette where there is the double-zero on the wheel. Place chip on the upper horizontal line between 00 and the 3. This bet favours the house by almost 8%.

Double Street (Six Number) Bets payout 5 to 1. Place chip on the outside line between adjacent streets to get all six numbers in double streets.

Straight Bets in Roulette

A Straight Bet is any bet that you make by placing your chip outside the 36 numbers on the layout. This includes the Dozens bet, the Columns bet, and that Outside bet.

The Dozens Bet pays 2 to 1. Place chip in the first twelve (1 to 12), the second twelve (13 to 24), or the third twelve (25 to 36).

The Column Bet pays 2 to 1. Place chip in a box at the end of one of the three columns.

Outside Bet (Even Money) pays even money. Place chip on Odd or Even, Black or Red, High or Low.

The House Edge in Live Roulette

There is very little that you can do to change the house edge. It will always be around 2.7% or 5.26%, depending on whether or not the wheel has a double zero.

Roulette is a random game of chance. The spins are not affected by anything that happened earlier in the game. Each spin is independent, much like the toss of a coin. 

Each time that the dealer drops the ball onto the roulette wheel, the chances of ending up on any given number are exactly the same – 36 to 1 on a single zero wheel and 37 to 1 on a double-zero wheel.

Random Number Generator Roulette

Live dealer roulette can be the most realistic roulette that you can play on the internet today; however, there can be instances where you prefer to play the good old fashioned way, with random number generators. But, what exactly is a “random number generator” (or RNG) and can you really trust them?

The random number generators that are used in online roulette can be compared to the RNG chip that is found in many slot machines, both online and offline. 

This little device can produce literally thousands of numbers every second, and one of these numbers is extracted once the roulette wheel is spun. 

By using a set of rules that match the odds of the game, the roulette ball eventually lands the number and colour, which is the end result.

One of the advantages of playing RNG roulette is the wide variety of roulette games that are available. 

Some casinos are primarily live dealer casinos, and while they offer RNG roulette, it is more of an add-on and not their primary focus. 

Some operators offer a limited variety of roulette games, such as European Roulette and American Roulette. 

You will find that casinos that have a wide variety of RNG roulette games, in addition to their newer live dealer roulette games.

Some RNG roulette games are targeted specifically for new players. 

This form of roulette has a smaller table layout and helps new players get a good feel for the game before moving on to more traditional roulette.

All in all, roulette is one of the most popular casino games around, and it is gaining in popularity each and every day. 

With all of the varieties of roulette that are available online right now, along with all of the new RNG roulette games that are being developed, it wouldn’t surprise me if roulette became THE online casino game of the 21st century.