Roulette, both played in a casino or at an online casino, is great fun, but, as with many casino games, roulette can appear a little intimidating to the total beginner. Playing online is a great way to start out playing roulette because at least you don’t have to worry about other people and in addition you won’t be able to make incorrect bets or worry about calculating winnings. Even so, if you know nothing about the great game of roulette, getting started online is tough and that’s where we can help with our roulette guide aimed at total newcomers.
How Does Roulette Work?
Playing roulette is actually very simple and all you have to do is bet on a number, color or range of both. The croupier (in the case of real world and online live dealer casinos) spins the wheel and the ball and if you’re in luck the ball lands in the slot of one of your numbers or your color.
What Can I Bet On?
You can bet on virtually any combination of numbers, ranging from a single number right up to almost half of the table, with bets such as red or black, odd or even and high or low giving you an almost 50% chance of winning.
The numbers in roulette range from one to 36, with half of those red and half black. In addition there is a green zero or on standard US roulette, green single AND double zero. The zero is what gives the casino the mathematical advantage so always play single zero (European) roulette where possible as this gives you more chance of winning.
What Are The Odds?
If you bet on a single number and get lucky you’ll be paid at 35/1, meaning a $1 bet will return $36. If you bet on any of the even money bets (red/black, odd/even, high/low) you’ll get paid at a rate of 1/1, so a $10 bet will return $20 (in both cases, including your original bet).
With roulette, all the bets have the same ratio of risk to reward, so strictly speaking, whatever you bet on, your chances of winning are the same in the long term.
Minimum And Maximum Bets
Another advantage of playing roulette online is that the system will not allow you to place a bet that breaches these rules. Minimum and maximum bets vary according to what you are betting on and are usually shown somewhere on-screen. And there are often guides accompanying online roulette games to which you can refer if you need any extra help.