People are skeptical about the safety of going out of their homes to play their favorite casino games at their favorite casinos. Because of this, a lot have resorted to playing these games on their computers and mobile devices. This seems to be the safer alternative for now with a pandemic raging all across the world.
Those who love slot machines find themselves playing online slots to get their slot machine fix. Those who love black jack do the same, they play online black jack to get their usual dose of the game. The same goes for those who love playing baccarat and craps in landbased casinos. They end up playing these games in the safety of their own homes until it is deemed safe to go out and visit their favorite casinos again.
One such game that people can play from home on their computer or mobile device is the game called roulette. While you don’t get the excitement that usually emanates from the people around you when you play in a real live casino, playing this online should suffice for now. For those of you who have played the game before, the same rules generally apply to the online version as it does to the landbased version. To those who are new to this game however, here are some basic rules that you should know before you try your luck at this game.
How to Play Online Roulette
Roulette is a game that has been around since the 1700s, if history about this game is correct. It first became popular in France and soon caught on around the world. The basic premise of the game is you bet on a number that can be found marked on a table. A wheel with red and black stripes on it is then spun and a small ball is made to circle the edge of this spinning wheel the opposite way. The objective of the game is to guess where the ball will land on this spinning wheel. If you guessed right, you win an amount based on what you bet and the odds of what you chose being the right number or color that gets the ball.
The roulette wheel has 36 numbers on it, some are colored red and some are colored black. In some casinos, whether these are online casinos or landbased ones, the wheel has two extra numbers on them, the 0 and 00. These two are colored green.
The objective of the game is, as mentioned earlier, to guess where the ball will land. This however doesn’t mean that you can only bet on the numbers that are on the wheel. You can also choose to bet on the color of the space where the ball will land or whether it’s an odd or even number.
There is also the option to choose a wider range for your bet. This includes choosing to bet that the ball will land on a number between 1 and 18 or between 19 and 36. You can also bet on the chance that the ball will land on a number between 1 to 12, 13 to 24, and 25 to 36. What you win for any of these bets will vary since the odds of winning from wider ranges is higher than those that are placed on specific numbers.
Gameplay Basics
Before the game starts, or before the dealer gets the wheel to spin, they will ask players to place their bets. If you are playing at a live table on an online casino, the same routine will apply since you are playing with others on the same table, just that they are in their own homes too.
You can place as many bets as you want on the board. You can even place a bet in the crux of four numbers on the board. This means your bet is divided evenly among those four numbers. In the online version of this game, the chips you will use will be color coded. One color will be assigned to you to ensure that your chips and those of your fellow players aren’t mixed up and the dealer doesn’t end up confused. This to also avoid any disputes as to who won what in the game.
Once all bets are placed, the dealer announces that there will be no more bets and players will no longer be allowed to add any more chips to the board. The wheel is spun and the ball is released. When there is a winner, the dealer will calculate how much they won based on where they placed their chips and how much they bet.
Basic Bet Types
When you play this game, you should at least have some inkling as to what types of bets you can place. In general, there are two types of bets – the inside bet and the outside bet. These are called such because of where these are placed on the table. Inside bets are those that are placed in the areas that have the individual numbers on them. Outside bets, on the other hand, are the areas that are found outside of the individual numbered area.
For inside bets, you have the following options:
Straight – This is when you bet only on a single number. You can bet on many single numbers at the same time and all of these bets are considered straight. Payment for such bets that win is 35 to 1.
Split – As the name implies, this is when you split your bet between two numbers. This can only be done with adjacent numbers on the board. Example, 16 and 19 or 23 and 24 – as long as the two numbers are beside each other, you can split your bet. This type of bet pays you 17 to 1.
Street – If you look at the betting table of roulette, you will notice that the numbers are lined up 3x12. If you place a street bet, you are placing a bet on the three numbers that are in a row. This bet pays 11-1.
Corner – We mentioned this type of bet earlier. This is when you place your chips at the crux of four numbers. This bet pays 8-1.
Six Line – As the name implies, this bet covers six numbers. It is essentially a double street bet. This pays 5-1.
First Four or Basket – This is a bet that you place between the first three numbers and the zeros. Since the European wheel only has one zero, it is called first four because of the 0-1-2-3 numbers you bet on. In the US, since the wheel has a 0 and a 00, this is called a Basket. The payout for the former is 8-1 while the latter is at 6-1.
For the outside bets:
Columns – This is when you place your bet at the bottom of the line of numbers on the table. This pays 2-1, which you can see written on the table.
Dozens – This is a variation of the columns bet since it still places a bet on 12 numbers but instead of the numbers on a column, this bet is placed on the numbers 1-12, 13-24, and 25-36. Just like columns, this pays 2-1.
Odd or Even – For this bet, you choose between two options, and that is the number the ball lands on is either an odd number or an even number. Since the odds for this type of bet is 50/50, this pays 1-1.
Red or Black – This is another bet that pays 1-1. Instead of choosing a number, you choose a color. The odds are still 50/50 for this bet.
Low Numbers/High Numbers – This bet is the one you make when you choose a number between 1 and 18 or 19 and 36. The odds for this is also 50/50 so this also pays 1-1.