Online Roulette: A Complete Guide

Casino games have been fascinating us since their inception. Roulette happens to be one of the oldest and one of the most popular games of all time. So, we thought it only makes sense to create an A to Z guide for our readers in the US regarding Roulette!

Throughout this guide, we’re going to learn how to play Roulette online US, what are the different types of bets, different variants of the game, roulette payouts, how to win at online roulette, basic and advanced strategies to manage your bankroll, and plenty of other important things.

So, if you haven’t already, get a bunch of snacks and cuddle up because it’s going to be a very enjoyable ride.

Best Casino to Play Roulette for Real Money

Before we jump into the details of the game, we have to consider the possibility that some of you already know everything there is to know about Roulette. So, we’re going to start off by giving you the best roulette casinos in US.

Goal of Roulette

Every game starts with a goal. If you had to aimlessly wander around a game title, it wouldn’t be engaging at all. So, what is the goal of roulette?

Well, there are 2 main components in the game. The roulette board and the online roulette real money wheel. Both have corresponding numbers. Your job is to place money on a number or a combination of numbers on the board.

Then, the dealer of the game will spin the wheel and drop an ivory ball in the opposite direction. Due to resistance, the wheel will come to a stop soon, pocketing the ball on any of the numbers.

If the number or the combination of the numbers you predicted is correct, you get the roulette payouts accordingly. If not, you lose the bet.

That’s pretty much it. It’s the simplicity of the game that makes it a very appealing choice for the majority of casino players. However, the game is not as simple as we’ve depicted in this section. The “combination of numbers” bit alone has a lot of explaining to do. Let’s get to that step-by-step.

Roulette Rules

Every successful gamer starts by understanding rules. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a computer game or a casino game. In roulette, there are quite a few components you must understand before you can actually understand the rules.

From here on in our guide, we’re going to give you the basics of a roulette board, the roulette wheel, the roulette payouts, and everything else that matters.

Roulette Wheel & Table

First up, we have the elements in the game. Whether you’re playing the RNG roulette or a live dealer title, you’re going to see a table and a wheel that rotates.

The table has numbers printed on it in a grid. Each row contains 3 numbers and each column contains 12 numbers. As you have already guessed, there is a total of 36 numbers in the grid, starting at 1 and ending at 36. These numbers are associated with the inside bets, something we plan to discuss very shortly.

This format is the same for American, European, and French Roulette. Don’t worry because we have a section coming up explaining all the different variants. For now, let’s focus on the components.

You’ll also see additional boxes with writing surrounding the grid. You’ll find boxes like Even, Odd, High, Low, Red, Black, and so on. These come into play for the outside bets. Refer to the section where we discuss them in detail.

On a side of the table, you’ll see the roulette wheel. It also has numbers printed along the diameter with small pockets to catch the ball. The numbers are from 1 to 36 but not in order. There is a pattern to it but it’s not an important detail for your gameplay.

The ball used in live dealer roulette or at a real casino table is made from ivory. In the RNG variant, of course, there’s no physical existence of the ball so the material doesn’t matter.

Order of Play

Now that you know about the component in the game, we can move on to the order of things. Although you don’t have any control over the flow of roulette because it’s predetermined, knowing them in advance will allow you to jump right into the game without wasting any time.

First of all, the players are asked to place bets on the roulette board. You can place inside bets or outside bets, whatever works for you the best. If you’re not sure what they are, just keep reading. As we said, we’re going to cover everything you need to know.

There’s a specific window for how long you can place the bets. Once that window is over, the dealer will call off the bets and spin the wheel while releasing the white ball in the opposite direction. It’s a beautiful thing to look at if you have the eye!

Then, all you can do is wait. After the wheel stops and the ball lands on a number, the dealer calculates the roulette payouts and pays accordingly. For online roulette real money, the payouts will directly come to the real money casino account in the US.

From here on, the same process repeats for the next round.

Outside Bets

As promised, this is the section where you’re going to learn about different types of bets in Roulette. Outside bets are the simplest to understand so we’re going to start there.

These bets are called “outside” bets because they’re on the outside perimeter of the table. There are 5 main outside bets. Here are the names and what they mean.

• Column Bets: Under each of the 3 columns, you’ll see a field that says “2 to 1” or “2:1”. That’s your column bet. It simply means you win the bet if the ball lands on any of the numbers that belong in that column. 2 to 1 indicates the payout.

• Dozens: On a Roulette table, you’ll find 3 different fields. They’re often labeled as “1^st 12”, “2^nd 12”, and “3^rd 12”. These fields represent sets of 12 numbers on the grid. Numbers through 1 to 12 belong to 1^st 12. You get the idea for the remaining 2 dozen, right?

• Even/Odds: There are 2 fields on the farther end of the table that says “Even” and “Odd”. If you place money on even, it means the ball must land on an even number. The opposite is true for the odd numbers.

• High/Low: Also labeled as “1-18” and “19-36”, this bet basically divides the range of numbers into 2. Wagering on low means the ball must land on numbers between 1 and 18. And for high, the ball must land on numbers between 19 and 36.

• Red/Black: This is often denoted as diamonds of the corresponding colors. If you place your bet on red, it means you win if the ball lands on a red ball. The opposite is true for black numbers.

Inside Bets

On the other side of the roulette bets coin lies the inside bets. These are all placed on numbers inside the grids. Hence, the name. So, here are inside bets you can place in Roulette.

• Straight Bet: The simplest of bets in roulette online. When you place the bet on a particular number only, it’s a straight bet. It has the highest payout for obvious reasons.

• Split: This bet includes 2 numbers. The chips (both virtual and real) are placed on the line of the grid that’s shared between 2 numbers. It can be any 2 numbers you can think of.

• Street: Adding another number to the mix, you get the street bet. The chips must be placed on the outside line of the grid that covers an entire row.

• Corner: You get the pattern by now, don’t you? 4 numbers on the roulette board give you the corner bet. The name is justified because the chips are placed on the shared corner of 4 numbers.

• 5 Number Bet: This one is unique to the American variant. It includes 0, 00, 1, 2, and 3 from the board. It’s only possible because the American table has 2 zeroes while the other variants have only one. That’s why it’s not possible to create any other 5 number combination.

• Sixline: The last of the inside bets is the sixline bet. As the name suggests, you include 6 numbers on this bet by placing the chips on the outer sharing line of any 6 numbers (2 consecutive rows).

Different Bets and Their Odds

Now that you know about the different bets in online roulette real money, you might be wondering what their odds are. The best way to depict the odds for both inside and outside bets is to include them in a table.

Bet	Payout	House Edge	Probability/Odds
Straight Bet	35 to 1	2.7%	2.7%
Split Bet	17 to 1	2.7%	5.40%
Street Bet	11 to 1	2.7%	8.11%
Corner Bet	8 to 1	2.7%	10.81%
5 Number Bet/Basket	6 to 1	2.7%	13.16%
Sixline Bet	5 to 1	2.7%	16.22%
Color (red/black)	1 to 1	2.7%	48.65%
Even/Odd	1 to 1	2.7%	48.65%
High/Low	1 to 1	2.7%	48.65%
Dozens	2 to 1	2.7%	32.43%
Column	2 to 1	2.7%	32.43%

Roulette RTP and House Edge

On the table in the previous section, you can see that the house edge is 2.7% for all of the bets. It’s true for the European version of the game. The house edge is basically the mathematical advantage an online casino has over you. 2.7% means from all of your bets, the casino will take 2.7%.

Now, how was the number determined? There must be a formula for this, right? Yes, you’d be right.

(Odds Against Winning – House Odds) x Probability of Success

That’s the formula. So, for any of the bets in European roulette, if you put the numbers in the right sections of the equation, you’ll get the house edge.

For the American variant, however, the house edge is 5.26%. It’s simply because there’s another number added to the mix, the 00. It improves the odds for the casino and increases the house edge.

If you’ve eagerly waiting to know the RTP for this game, all you have to do is deduct the house edge from 100. So, the RTP for European Roulette is 97.3% and for the American variant, it’s 94.74%.

Traditional Roulette Variations

We’ve been teasing about the different variants of roulette for quite some time now. At this point in our roulette guide, it’s time to explain the differences between them. There are 3 main types or variants of roulette. They’re awfully similar yet different.

American Roulette

European Roulette

French Roulette

Unique Roulette Variations

The roulette variations we discussed so far are the most commonly found ones. But there are more versions to take the excitement to a different level. Let’s take a quick look at some of these versions.

Multi Ball Roulette

Multi Wheel Roulette

Mini Roulette

As the name suggests, it’s a mini version of the big roulette that you already know of. Instead of 37 or 38 pockets, the wheel has only 13 pockets. There’s no doubt that it’s a very enjoyable game and the smaller size allows you to get one for game nights at your house. However, the house edge is quite high in this version, over 7% to be precise.

Pinball Roulette

If unique traits are something to go by, this deters from the original by the biggest margin. It’s a combination of the ever-popular pinball game and roulette. You get a pinball area like the game but without the flippers. The numbers are located at the bottom of the interface. Although it has a full-sized table, you can’t see all the numbers at once.

Double Action Roulette

On the outside, this game looks pretty similar to the ones we know. But on the wheel, there are 2 layers of numbers instead of just one. Technically, you can place bets on 2 different games at the same time.

Types of Online Roulette

Up until this point, we’ve covered many variants of the game. But when it comes to types, there are only 2.

RNG Roulette/Online Roulette

In the iGaming industry, when we say that we have an “online” game, it usually refers to the RNG variant. RNG stands for Random Number Generator which is an algorithm to generate random results.

The RNG keeps generating numbers all the time, even when the game is not played. As a result, there’s no way to determine what the next string of numbers is going to be. In a roulette context, the random string results in the stopping position of the ball on your screen.

As there are no human dealers involved, you can play this game anytime, anywhere you want. You’re usually not limited by the time you get to place each bet.

Live Dealer Roulette

This is exactly what it sounds like. You play a game of roulette with a “live” dealer who is essentially a real roulette croupier. He/she will call the bets, call them off, and spin the wheel in front of a camera.

A big difference is the lobby. You usually can’t play live dealer roulette alone because there are more players in the same lobby as well. And it’s more fun because there’s an element of competition between the players.

If you prefer a human touch in your casino games, a live dealer variant of Roulette or any other game is going to be a better choice for you.

Demo Games

Now that you know all about online roulette real money, why don’t you try both types in demo mode?

Roulette Software Providers

Just like all the other casino games, Roulette is also developed by software providers. It’s true for both online and live dealer variants. In this section, we plan to discuss the best software providers who’ve made a name for roulette.

Basic Strategies

When dealing with gambling in general, you’ll hear about various strategies. Apparently, they’re supposed to improve your likelihood of winning or somewhat guarantee a win. But in reality, strategies are no such thing. If they were, it wouldn’t be “gambling” anymore.

What strategies actually are is a way to manage your bankroll. How efficiently you can dissect the money you have for betting can prevent big losses. Here are some basic strategies that most roulette experts agree on.

Strategy	What is Means	Strategy Type
Martingale	Martingale dictates that you double your wager every time you lose and reduce your wager by half every time you lose. Works best on even money (1 to 1) bets.	Negative Progression
Labouchere	This is a very personalized strategy where you get to dissect the amount want to win in a few smaller numbers. And bet according to that.	Negative Progression
D’Alembert	This strategy suggests that you break your bankroll into units. You add 1 unit every time you lose and you reduce 1 unit every time you win.	Negative Progression
Fibonacci	As the name suggests, you follow the Fibonacci series to place your bets. Every time you lose, you got the next entry in the series. And every time you win, you fall back 2 steps in the series.	Negative Progression

Advanced Strategies

The strategies we covered in the previous section are very basic betting systems and they work for plenty of games other than Roulette. In this section, let’s go over some advanced strategies that give better results in Roulette

Strategy	What is Means	Strategy Type
Paroli System	The idea for this strategy is to double the bet if you win and keep the bet same if you lose. Whatever happens in the 3rd round, you reset your bet value.	Positive Progression
James Bond Strategy	It’s a combination of inside and outside bets to cover as much of the table as possible.	Linear Progression
Oscar’s Grind Strategy	This is a relatively stable strategy if you want to stretch the bankroll for longer. You keep the bet same if you lose and increase it by 1 unit if you win. But if you lose, you don’t decrease it. So, your bet size gradually increases throughout the session	Positive Progression

Tips on How to Win at Roulette

Interested in some tips? Here you go!

FAQ

Roulette Glossary

Before we part ways, here are some terms that you might come across when playing online roulette US.

• Biased Wheel: A wheel that doesn’t freely choose a number. It’s rigged to give you predetermined numbers.
• En Prison: A special type of bet offered in French roulette.
• Croupier: The dealer in the game.
• Marker: An object the dealer uses to mark the winning number.
• Pockets: Where the ball lands after on the wheel.