As a fascinating game of chance roulette remains a firm favourite both online and at land-based casinos. There is something about the spin of the wheel and anticipation when waiting for it to slow.
Today, we are going to take a look at the basic rules of online roulette.
First, you will need to find yourself a trusted online casino site which has a wide selection on offer both of roulette and other popular casino games like slots, blackjack, poker, and baccarat. Next thing is to choose which variation of roulette takes your fancy. You can always try some of the free/demo games to get a feel of the game before wagering any real money.
The Basics
- The roulette wheel features red and black slots which are numbered 1 – 36
- Depending on the variation there will be one or two green zero slots. European roulette has one zero whilst American roulette has two (which increases the house edge)
- There is also a roulette table which features the numbers as well as other additional sections on which you can place different bets.
All players at the roulette table must place their bets before the dealer spins the wheel and then throws in the small ball. The number of the slot the ball lands in is the winning number. You will win if you have bet on that number or if you have bet on a group of numbers containing the winning one.
The Bets
There are different combinations of roulette bets to learn. Single numbers, groups of numbers. Different combinations bring their odds the more numbers you bet on the bigger your chance is of securing a win.
All roulette bets are divided into three main categories:-
- Inside bets
- Outside bets
- Announced bets
The first two are offered by all roulette games with the third being more advanced and found in some roulette variants.
The main part of the roulette table is made up of numbers from 0 to 36 with the rest being divided into sections for placing bets on groups of numbers (odd/even, red/black, 1018/19-36, a column bet, and dozens.
Bets placed on numbers themselves are called inside bets, and the other sections are called outside bets. The house edge will vary depending on which type of bet you place.
In all there are seven types of inside bets:-
- Straight which covers one single number
- Split is over two numbers adjacent on the table
- Street, a bet on three consecutive numbers found on the same line
- Six Line, a bet on two adjacent lines
- Corner, a four-number bet which can also be called a ‘square’ bet
- The trio, a three-number bet which included the zero or zeros
- Basket, a bet on 0, 1, 2, and 3 (in American roulette it includes the double zero)
There are Five common types of outside bets:-
- Red or Black – make a bet on the colour of the winning number
- Odd or Even – make a bet on whether the winning number is going to be either odd or even
- 1 to 18 or 19 to 36 – make a bet on whether the winning number is going to be high or low
- Dozen – make a bet on one of the three dozen that you can find on the layout of the roulette table.
- Columns – make a bet from one of the three columns the winning number will be
The snake bet can be found in some games and it covers the numbers 1, 5, 9, 12, 14, 16, 19, 23, 27, 30, 32, and 34 which creates the sinuous shape of a snake on the black numbers
The Announced bet can be found in French and some European games and they all have individual French names.
- Voisins du Zero (Neighbours of Zero)
- Le Tiers Du Cylindre (one-third of the wheel)
- Orphelins (what is not covered by the Voisins du Zero and Tier bets combined)
- Jeu Zero also called the Zero Game
If you are thinking about trying out any of these bets then do try them on one of the games you can play for fun to make sure you understand fully how they work.
