Roulette is a true Casino classic and has been popular since the late 18th century, where it was played in France. Interestingly, the game was created by a French physicist in his search to create a perpetual motion machine – though clearly if he has succeeded, the wheel would keep spinning and your bet would never come in! The rules of Roulette are simple, you place your bet on which pocket in the wheel where you think the ball will end up and you can bet on a variety of situations that have different payouts.
Roulette-safe and risky bets
The beauty of Roulette is that there’s an endless number of different bets you can place and in varying amounts. There are safe bets, otherwise known as Outside bets (as they are on the outside of the table), such as whether the ball will land on Red or Black, an Odd or Even number, a Low (1-18) or High (19-36) number – which all pay 1:1. There are two other outside bets which pay 2:1, the Dozen (1-12, 13-24 & 25-36) and Columns (the three columns of numbers running the length of the table).
On the other hand there are more risky bets, known as Inside bets, which are placed inside the number grid. These bets are harder to predict as they are more specific but the risk can be worth the reward! If you’re feeling confident you can bet on a single number, known as Straight Up, and this will give you 35x your wager. It is common when betting straight up to place your chips on more than one number, or to place some outside bets to cover yourself.
Other inside bets include the Split, where you place your chip between two single numbers, paying 17:1. A Street bet covers three numbers in a row and pays 11:1. Place a Corner bet covering four numbers, paying 8:1. The Line bet covers six numbers of two rows and pays 5:1.
There’s multitude of ways to play Roulette and with so many ways to mix up your betting options you’re bound to find your lucky number!
French Roulette
If you’re looking for online Roulette you really are spoiled for choice, with so many different options on which wheels to spin. European Roulette, also known as French Roulette, is the most popular version over American Roulette. If you’re wondering why, the difference may be hard to spot for those new to Roulette; French Roulette has one zero, whereas American has an extra zero. While this may not seem like a massive difference, it practically doubles the house edge from 2.7% to 5.26%! Like other casino favourites, you can also play Live internet Roulette, with a dealer who’ll spin the wheel and roll the ball in and, with any luck, dole out your virtual winnings.