Roulette Bonus

As the most well-known game of chance, Roulette is a casino game that was named after the French word which means ‘small wheel’. In roulette, players can opt to place their bets on either a single number or a range of numbers. They can also choose to place their bets on the colors red or black, or odd or even numbers as well. Additionally, the winning number and color is decided by a roulette dealer also known as a ‘croupier’ who spins the roulette wheel in one direction, and then rolls a ball in the opposite direction around an angled circular track as the ball bounces around the circumference of the wheel. At a certain point, the ball loses its momentum and lands in one of 37 (in French/European roulette) or 38 (in American roulette) colored and numbered entrapments on the wheel. Although roulette is a game of chance, the opportunity to win a lot of money is an added bonus roulette players enjoy.

Bonuses

Playing roulette online can come with some great bonuses for you, as a new roulette player, to enjoy. Sites like Royal Vegas Online Casino offers a €/$1,200 Free welcome bonus for all new players. Meanwhile, casino operator Betway provides an extremely generous Welcome Bonus which can be redeemed by making an initial deposit (up to £250) that the online casino will instantly double. Following your original deposit, you can look forward to a series of additional bonuses including a 25% Match bonus on your second deposit (also up to £250) and a 50% Match Bonus on your third deposit (up to £500).  Their competitor, 888, gives its new roulette players a €240 Welcome Bonus. To redeem this casino bonus, new players must deposit €20 and they will get €40 to play with. Or, you can deposit €100 and receive €200 to play with. Either way, the potential payout that any of these online casinos provides is greatly increased with the lavish bonuses that they provide.

Variation by country

The European version, otherwise known as ‘French Roulette’ involves a wheel, a metal ball which is thrown onto the wheel in the opposite direction of the croupier’s spin. The game also involves a table for people to place their bets on. The numbers range from 1-36 and are either the colors red or black. There is an equal amount of black and red numbers, odd and even numbers and what are known ‘high and low’ numbers. 1-17 is considered ‘low’ while 18-36 is considered to be ‘high’. The zero (0) is the color green also known as the “house number” as it pushes a slight house edge into the game. Alternatively, if you bet on red or black, the odds of the ball landing on either red or black are equal.

This single green zero pocket provides a 37th slot in the wheel that the ball may land in. This means that the odds of the ball landing in red or black are barely less than half. If by chance, the ball lands on green, anyone who bets on red or black will lose all to the casino’s house. To be precise, the house has a 2.70% edge due solely to the green “0″ spot on the roulette wheel.

American roulette has the same rules. The only major difference is that it has an additional green color slot with two zeroes. Originally, the idea was to help casinos garner more profits while causing gamblers to lose a greater sum of money at a higher frequency. That is why worldwide, European Roulette is preferable among roulette players as the odds of winning more money is tilted in the player’s favor.

Recommended roulette casinos

While many casinos offer roulette, some are better than others. The following is a list of the top casinos for roulette play.

Rules

There are several rules one must adhere to when playing roulette. They are as follows.

  1. When it is your turn, approach the roulette table
  2. Select either a color, a number or a range of numbers (high, low)
  3. Place your bet on the color, number or range of numbers that you have chosen. You can do this by laying down your chips on a betting mat on the precise location where you expect the ball to land
  4. Patiently wait for the wheel’s spin to end
  5. Depending on the outcome of the spin, either collect your wins, defer your losses or break even and collect your wager.

Gameplay

Before each round, the croupier will let players place their bets on the board. The game starts the moment the croupier spins the wheel. After several seconds have passed, the croupier will declare that no more bets can be made and signals this by waving his hand over the board.

As soon as the ball ends up in a numbered slot, the dealer will report the winning number by placing a marker on the board prior to clearing all the losing bets. After those chips are removed, the croupier will pay out every winning wager prior to starting a new round of betting and repeating the process.

Odds

 In roulette, your odds of landing on black or red are equal, (47.4%). However, due to the green zero pocket, there’s a 52.6% chance that the house will be collecting all of your chips on a black/red bet. The 5.26% ‘spread’ is known as the house edge

Inside bets vs outside bets

In roulette, there are two types of bets-inside bets and outside bets. Inside bets mean that the odds of you winning are weaker, but the payout is much higher. On the other hand, an outside bet means that the chances of winning are greater, but it comes with a lower payout.

There are 6 types of inside bets. They are Straight-up, Street, Split, Corner, Six Line and Trio.

There are also 6 different types of outside bets. They are 1-18, 19-36, red or black, even or odd, dozen bets and column bets.

House edge: Roulette vs blackjack

Some casino games have a more favorable house edge than roulette while others have less. In roulette, the house edge on an American wheel is 5.26%, while on a European wheel, it’s 2.70%. Nothing can change that. This is not the case with other casino games like the bonus blackjack game where the player has the ability to affect the house edge, a non-existent option for roulette players whereby the house edge is fixed.

Strategies

  • Martingale – The Martingale strategy means that the player doubles their bet after every loss, in hopes that the original win would recover all prior losses and win a profit equal to the original stake.
  • Labouchère system – This system involves using a series of numbers in a line to determine the bet amount, following a win or a loss.
  • D’Alembert system – With the D’Alembert system, following each loss, one unit is added to the next bet, and after each win, one unit is deducted from the next bet.

Top 5 Playing tips

  1. Play European roulette if possible. The odds are heavily in your favor in comparison to American roulette.
  2. Come to the table with a strategy. Don’t bet impulsively, you can end up leaving with greater losses than originally planned.
  3. Practice makes perfect. Start playing with a free table online to get the hang of the game. This will help you build confidence when playing for real money.
  4. Play with a licensed casino. If you are playing online, a licensed casino is always a safer bet than one that is not licensed.
  5. Know when to fold ‘em. The temptation of winning back your losses is hard to fight. But you must be sure to manage your budget wisely. Know when to cut your losses and walk away. Conversely, all winning streaks come to an end eventually. As strange as it sounds-know when to quit winning.

Game variations

American Roulette, is very similar to European roulette. The main difference is that the American version features an additional double zero pocket which doubles the house edge (5.26%) in comparison to its European counterpart (2.63%).

French roulette differs because of the ‘La Partage’ rule, whereby players half back on even money bets that lose on 0.

Mini roulette This tiny version features 13 numbers only. Unfortunately, it includes a single 0 giving mini-roulette a house edge of 7.69%.

Roulette Royal is similar to the European version except that it features a progressive jackpot. Players are required to hit the same single number 5 times in a row.

Conclusion

The game of roulette is an exciting fast moving casino game of chance. And although the many strategies involved can only get you so far, the mere thrill of watching the ball land on your number or color during play is enough to offset the fact that the game is largely a game of chance. Remember, the European version is always better than the American version and if you play roulette online or on your mobile device, always be sure that the casino is licensed.