How to play roulette online

By Ville Saari. Updated:

Learn how to play Roulette online on Bojoko. Here, you can learn all about the game, the rules and the tips and tricks to improve your chances.

Roulette is a common casino game and can be found in nearly every casino. But that doesn't mean that everyone knows how the game works. Table games can even be confusing with all the betting options.

Our experts can teach you the roulette rules and show you how the game is played properly. Become a great roulette player with our help.

Learn how to play online roulette

What is roulette?

Roulette is a classic casino game where players try to guess which random number comes up on the roulette wheel by placing bets on the roulette table. Players can make as wide or as narrow bets as they want, but the tighter your guess is, the more money you win.

Roulette dates back centuries and was invented in France. There have been many versions of the same concept throughout history. The current roulette wheel and the game as we know it today was invented by Blaise Pascal.

The game is 100% based on luck. You have no control over the game actions, and the outcome is always random. What you can control is how you bet and how much you bet. Adjusting these is what roulette strategies are all about.

How to play roulette?

Here are the steps on how to play roulette:

  1. Choose which numbers or groups of numbers you want to bet on
  2. Place your chips on those sectors on the felt
  3. The croupier will spin the wheel and drop the ball for a random winning number
  4. If your bet covers that number, you win
  5. The more accurately you can guess the number, the more money you get

From a player's standpoint, roulette is a simple game where you just need to decide where you want to place your bets. All other actions are handled by the croupier or computer running the game.

You can place bets on exact numbers on the table. The odds of winning with those are very small, but the payout in term is very big. Choosing large group bets covers multiple numbers increasing the odds of winning, but that also decreases the payout.

The roulette game is all about finding the right balance between high-paying wins and high chances of actually winning.

Roulette wheel

This is what the European roulette wheel looks like

The roulette wheel has 37 sectors; 16 red numbers, 16 black ones and one green zero to top it off. The point of the roulette wheel is to give out a single random number each round.

The wheel itself spins, and the little ball is spun in the opposite direction to make sure the hole it lands on is random enough. Even a skilled croupier has absolutely no control over where the ball will land.

The numbers on the wheel are not consecutive, and the numbers themselves are randomly chosen to be red and black. All roulette wheels have the same colours for the same numbers, but there is no pattern on them. The only thing that is exact is that there are equal amounts of them.

The Roulette wheel can differ between the different roulette variants.

Some roulette versions alter how the wheel is structured. American roulette adds a second zero sector to the wheel, and there are mini roulettes where 18 is the largest number.

Altering the wheel changes the odds and payouts. Adding more zero sectors makes the game worse for the player while removing numbers completely changes the payout structure.

Roulette table

Roulette table numbers and the other betting options

The roulette table is the place where the actual bets are made. The felt has printed numbers on it and special spaces that combine larger groups into one. It may look a bit confusing at first glance, but you will get the hang of it quickly.

There is a dedicated space for each number as the inside bets area and group bets, which are known as outside bets. You can experiment with different kinds of betting options to find the right balance for you.

What is great about the roulette table is that all bets are equal in relative value and odds. Meaning that you can't choose a bad sector on the table. You can, at worst, just make a bet that is either very difficult or doesn't pay much. This makes a roulette table fair.

Racetrack adds new betting options to roulette

Some roulette tables have racetrack bets available. These are simply more betting options and different-sized groupings.

The racetrack has the numbers in the same order as they appear on the wheel. You can place bets on the groups inside the track or neighbour bets on the track itself. For example, 3 neighbour bet on number 1 square would cover everything between 24 and 31, the three neighbouring sectors on the track in both directions.

Roulette bets

The roulette table allows you to make different kinds of bets. You can go for a very accurate bet on specific numbers or go for a broad sweep that covers a lot. All you need to do is place your chips on the corresponding squares.

There are two categories of bets, inside bets and outside bets. Inside bets are placed on the numbers or on the lines between them. These cover only a handful of numbers at once. Outside bets are placed on the sectors on the outer rim. They cover a large amount of numbers.

Here are the different ways you can place your chips on the numbers.

This is how you can bet on a roulette table

Outside bets are much more simple. The squares tell you which numbers are covered and are pretty self-explanatory. 1St 12 covers numbers 1-12, even is all even numbers, red is all red numbers and so on. The payout on them is smaller as they cover more.

No matter how you place your chips, the payout is relatively always the same. Placing one chip on 1 and one on 4 pays out the same if you would place two chips on the line between them.

Here are the different bets and their payouts on a regular roulette table:

This is how each bet pays in roulette

Roulette rules

Roulette game rules across the variants are always the following:

You can bet on a single number, bet on group bets that cover multiple numbers, or even place multiple bets all at once.

The payout is always relative to how many numbers your bet covers. The more numbers, the smaller the payout. Even though the game is perfectly balanced between the groups, players have their preferences on how large groups they want to bet on.

There are three major roulette variants, European, American and French roulette. These have some additional rules and changes in odds.

Roulette online casinos have more options

European roulette rules

European roulette is the de facto base roulette game. This is the bare-bones version that people like to play, and it is the easiest to learn. It is also a good option for any player.

European roulette rules are simple. It's been stripped of all the zero-sector rules from the French version and just held on to the basics.

All the bets you can make are visible on the table, and there are no special rules for when the ball lands on zero. This is a simple what you see is what you get version.

Some European roulette tables have racetrack bets available, while some have taken it down. Online, it is often hidden from the default view but can be accessed by turning the option on.

American roulette rules

American roulette is the worst option of all the basic roulette variants. It increases the house edge even more. This game should be avoided at all costs.

American roulette is based on the European version. The key difference is that this version has two zero sectors on the wheel, 0 and 00. This makes it more difficult to win with all bets.

This version was designed by American casino operators when the game was originally brought from Europe to the US. The casino owners didn't like that the game only had a small house edge and simply wanted more money.

For some strange reason, the players preferred the American version over the European one, which is why this version is very common in US brick-and-mortar casinos.

French roulette rules

French roulette is the best roulette variant for the player. It has the lowest house edge of all the roulette games.

French roulette table and wheel look just like the European version. Each has only one zero and the same betting options. What is different is that the French version has either the La Partage or En Prison rule.

These rules change what happens when the ball lands on the zero sector. Instead of simply losing, the players will either get half of their bet back with La Partage or all of it if they win the next round with En Prison.

No matter which of these rules are in place, the game is better for the player.

The racetrack bets are also more common in French roulette, but you can find those elsewhere as well.

How to play online roulette

To play roulette online, just follow these steps:

  1. Choose a site from our list of roulette online casinos
  2. Create a casino account
  3. Deposit funds to your casino account
  4. Pick a roulette table
  5. Start playing

It is just that easy to play roulette online.

When you play online, you get to enjoy a more calm and relaxed environment. The regular roulette games do not have any time limits on rounds, and you can place your bets at your own pace. When you're good and ready, you can click the button that will start the wheel and send the ball flying.

Online roulette makes following the game easier. The game automatically pays out all the winning bets and clears the table for the next round.

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Tips on how to play roulette online better

Here are some tips on how to play roulette better on online casinos.

Like all gambling, roulette is designed with the idea of the house winning in the long run. There is no way of getting around that fact. There are no guaranteed ways to win, but there are ways to improve your odds.

Choose your table carefully

This is the most important thing to play better and the best way to improve your chances.

Choosing the type of roulette you play can make a big difference. The best option is to play French Roulette. This version has the highest chances for the player to win and is generally seen as the best roulette variant.

European roulette is a solid option if French is not available. Never choose American roulette, as that game has a high house edge.

If you want to play more unique roulette variants and special versions, check their RTP before you play. Make sure the house edge is at least on the same level as on European Roulette.

Use roulette bonuses

Roulette bonuses are a little treat you get on online casinos. These will help you get more out of your money.

At heart, bonuses are a marketing tool and a way to get players to keep playing. That part is no secret. That being said, you can take advantage of them if you pick the right bonus offers.

A simple welcome bonus is all fine and good, but look out for reoccurring bonuses and ones that have no or extremely low wagering requirements. Cashback offers are especially good for roulette.

It may seem small to get 10% back if you lose your deposit, but those add up. For every ten bucks you deposit and lose, you get a dollar back. Do that ten times, and you get the eleventh attempt for free, so to speak.

Check out the online roulette bonuses that are available for Canadians.

Betting systems

Betting systems and roulette strategies are a great thing to learn about but don't be fooled by them. There is no 100% guaranteed system that will eventually always win.

What you should do is understand how they work and see if you can use them on a smaller scale. See how the bet sizes vary between rounds and how that could be helpful for you.

Martingale, D'Alembert, Fibonacci, Kanzen, Labouchère and Oscar's Grind are all interesting tactics and fun to read about, but will all fail in the long run. They only work if you have an endless supply of money and a table that has absolutely no bet limits.

Set yourself limits

This doesn't directly make you win more, but it will make you lose less. Setting limits and sticking to them prevents you from digging a deeper and deeper hole when things don't go your way.

Many gamblers will get reckless when they start losing. They will do anything to break even and keep playing more and more, all the while having less and less fun. If you have a limit and stop when you reach it, you can cut the downward spiral before it gets out of hand.

The best thing is to stop playing, take a breather and come back at a later date if you still want to gamble.

Practise playing roulette

You can practise playing roulette first without even signing up on a casino. You can learn the rules and all the ins and outs of the game first.

We have built a companion app for you that teaches you roulette.

Practise playing roulette with Bojoko's roulette simulator app for iOS and Android.

With our app, you can get acquainted with how the game works, familiarize yourself with the rules and test out different bets.

You can even try out all the roulette strategies, betting patterns and strange combination bets without risking any real money.

FAQ

A Roulette game is a classic table casino game. The goal of the game is to guess which number the ball lands on on the roulette wheel.

You can bet on exact numbers or groups of several numbers. The tighter your bet is, the more you win if you bet correctly.

The basic rules of roulette are simple to learn, and here they are in a nutshell:

  1. Place your bets on the table
  2. The croupier spins a random number
  3. Each player who placed a bet that matches that number wins
  4. The smaller group of numbers you bet on, the more you get paid

And that is it. Those are the basic rules of roulette. Every round, you can make new bets and guess different numbers.

The rule 00 in roulette is an extra rule that American casino operators introduced to improve the casino's edge.

The rule 00 adds a second zero sector on the wheel, the double zero, which decreases the chances of a player betting on the right number. This sector is found on the American Roulette variant and is the reason why that particular version is unpopular online.

There is no trick to winning roulette. It is a game of chance, and the outcome is 100% luck.

That being said, you can learn bankroll management with bet sizes and betting patterns, and you can understand the different odds versus payouts to become a better player.

To play roulette online for real money is easy. You just find an online casino that looks good, sign up for an account, deposit money and start playing.

Playing roulette online is just like playing it on a brick-and-mortar casino. You even get more options online when it comes to game variants, tables and bet limits.

The safest bet on roulette is the one that covers the most numbers without covering them all. Many players believe that 50/50 bets like odds/even, red/black or high/low are the safest, but there are even better options.

Making two bets on different columns is an even safer option. This covers 2/3 of the numbers and pays out 3:2 if you win. The payout is smaller here than with those 50/50 bets, which actually have 48.6% odds, but this increases the odds to 64.8%.

 

About the author

Ville Saari

Article by:

Ville Saari

Ville is an industry veteran, who has written thousands of gambling-related reviews and articles since 2009. He is an IT engineer with a passion for game and strategy optimization, and to teach the world to play better.

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