In the past, anyone who wanted to enjoy gambling and casino games would have to take the time to get out and visit a brick and mortar casino in a licensed location. Now, with the advent of the internet and mobile technology, you can simply load up a site or an app and get in on the classic casino fun wherever you are, at any time. It’s never been easier, and there’s a huge range of different casino games to have fun with.
From blackjack and baccarat to poker and slot machines, online casinos and gambling sites are filled with varied games for players to play and enjoy. But when it comes to popularity with players, there’s one casino game that always towers up above the rest: roulette. Easy to play, highly accessible, always exciting, and offering amazing odds for players, roulette is the most popular casino game of them all, and the same applies in the digital world too, with online roulette being the most played game at almost every online casino.
So, what makes roulette so special? Why does this game stand out above the likes of poker and slots as the most popular option? Why are so many players drawn to the red and black wheel when they could choose lots of other gaming options in their online gambling adventures? This guide will take a look at the rise of roulette online, exploring the factors and features that have helped to make roulette such a beloved game with so many people. And let’s start off with the basics.
An Overview of Roulette
Roulette is a classic casino game that can be found in almost any real life or online casino worldwide. Named using the French word for ‘little wheel’, roulette is a simple casino game in which a wheel with numbers around the edge is spun around and a little ball is placed inside, eventually landing on one of the numbers as the wheel’s spin comes to an end.
The layout of the wheel can vary a little depending on the version of roulette being played, but the numbers typically run from 1 up to 36, and players can win by betting on a range of different factors, like the colour of the number on which the ball lands, whether or not the number will be low (1 – 18) or high (19 – 36), or even trying to pick the exact number.
Once the ball lands in a numbered pocket, the winnings are paid out to everyone who placed a successful bet, and the odds increase depending on the type of bet you placed and how likely it was to occur. Betting on the right colour, for example, lets you double your money, but betting on the exact number can multiply your initial stake by 35.
What Makes Roulette So Popular?
So, now that we’ve seen how roulette works, let’s take a closer look at what makes it so popular. If you visit any real-life casino, you can always see crowds of people gathering around the roulette wheels, and even in online casino sites too, roulette stands out as one of the most popular and frequently played games.
Many users gravitate towards online casino roulette games and a lot of the best online casinos offer a range of roulette variants for their players, including American roulette and European roulette, which have slightly different wheels. Ultimately, there are four aspects that make roulette such a popular game: accessibility, odds, social aspect, and fun factor.
The Accessibility of Roulette
One of the most attractive elements of roulette is how accessible it is, especially compared to many other casino and table games out there. A lot of people are taking an interest in casino games online, but they don’t all have years of experience of going to casinos and playing casino games. The likes of baccarat and poker can seem quite complicated and intimidating to these players, but roulette is such a simple option and so easy to understand.
This is a big factor in roulette’s popularity. With online live roulette games, you can understand the rules in a matter of seconds, even if you’ve never played before. A ball is rolled around a spinning wheel and you have to guess where it will end up. That’s all. There are no complicated rules or in-depth strategies to understand. It’s nothing more than a case of predicting the outcome of a simple action.
This simplicity is very attractive to players who don’t want to waste their own time learning rules and tactics and strategies and just want to get in on the action, load up a fun little game while travelling to work or in their free time, and have a chance of winning big if they get lucky and place the right bet. With roulette, even though there are some strategies you can learn, it’s mostly all down to luck and a lot of people enjoy this basic convenience and seamlessness.
The Odds of Roulette
Another big aspect of roulette that draws people in is the odds you actually have of winning. Naturally, when you go into a casino or load up an online casino on your computer or phone, the ultimate aim, as well as having fun, is to try and win some cash by placing smart wagers and having Lady Luck on your side. This means that many smart players try out the games that give them the best odds, and roulette stands out in this respect.
In fact, in studies of the odds of all casino games, from blackjack to poker and beyond, experts have consistently ranked roulette as having the very best odds of all. So, if you actually want to have the highest chance of winning money online, it makes sense to play roulette. But you do need to be careful with your bets, as not every bit has the same chance of paying out.
The safest bets in roulette are on the colours. If you bet on either red or black, you’ve got an almost 50% chance of winning. It’s not quite 50% as there is the green 0 or 00 square to contend with, but it’s almost a 1 in 2 chance of victory every time, which is very impressive compared to your odds in many other casino games. Then, you have the other betting options like high or low, which also offer an almost 50% chance of winning, so you can vary it up and still have a good shot.
The Social Aspect of Roulette
When it comes to casino games, you can generally divide them up into two main categories: there are games where you play against other players and games where you play against the house. Games are either competitive, in which you’re hoping to be the best of a group of players and profit from their loss, or social, in which you and the other players are all able to place the same sorts of bets and hope to win big from the casino itself.
Roulette is a social game. There’s no competition involved, so you don’t have to worry about getting into other players’ heads or out-thinking your opponents. It’s the sort of game you can casually load up on your phone, tablet, or computer at any time and enjoy without any kind of pressure or stress associated with competition. It’s even something you can enjoy with friends in a relaxed setting, without the need for any rivalries to develop.
A lot of people are drawn to roulette sites due to this social, non-competitive aspect of the game. They like the idea of trying to win money from the casino, rather than from other players. It helps to make the game more enjoyable overall for a lot of players and also adds to the aforementioned point about roulette’s accessibility; since the game has no competitive element, you don’t need to worry about building a strategy to beat the other players.
The Fun Factor of Roulette
Finally, we can’t underestimate the influence of the plain and simple ‘fun factor’ of roulette that helps to make it such a popular game when compared to many others. The simplicity of the game plays a part in this, as players can just sit back, relax, and enjoy online roulette UK action at their favourite online casinos without needing to stress about strategies and tactics, but there’s much more to it than that.
Since the very first casino games were played and the first roulette wheels were spun, people have enjoyed the unique thrill of this particular game. It’s exciting to watch the wheel in action, even on your mobile screen, and see where the ball might land. In an instant, your life could change and a single bet of just a few pounds can be transformed into hundreds if you get lucky and pick the right number.
The drama and suspense of the wheel really adds to the overall thrill of roulette, making it feel more like an experience than a simple game. Each and every spin can be special and your fortunes can change in an instant. Even if you lose a few bets, you can turn things around very quickly in roulette if one or two good bets come in, and this helps to make every single round fun and thrilling for the players involved.
Tips to Play Online Roulette
If you’re looking for the best online roulette experiences, there are some important tips and tricks you should be aware of:
Want to play a few games of roulette, either on or offline, but don’t know where to get started? In this guide, we are going to cover the basics so that you can start taking part and winning some money!
If you have never touched roulette before—and if you are reading this, you probably haven’t—we highly recommend playing online roulette at online roulette sites first before you hit the casino. This will allow you to get used to the game, its mechanics, and its rules in a relaxed, slow-paced environment.
Although roulette is a very simple game in theory, the added pressures of a live casino can easily lead to you making a mistake or two if you don’t know what you are doing. By taking your time to learn the basics of online roulette and then going to find an online roulette site or online casino to put your new knowledge into practice, you will stand a better chance of success.
Online roulette is usually offered at online casinos, however, there are some sites focused on roulette entirely, too. All across the world, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of active online casinos with more and more popping up every month—it goes without saying that there is plenty of choice.There has never been a better time to get involved with online roulette games, that’s for sure.
Even if you haven’t played online roulette before, getting to grips with it is quite easy—the rules are simple, and the gameplay is straightforward.
Although it looks intimidating, it is anything but. Numbered 1 to 36 with a single zero (and a double zero if you are playing European roulette), the numbers are out of sequence and alternate between black and red (with the 0 and 00 being green.) The dealer spins the roulette wheel and the ball travels in the opposite direction. Eventually, the wheel stops spinning and the ball lands on a black or red (or green) number.
Roulette has several betting options and each one has its own odds. These include:
Red or Black with 1:1 odds;
Odd or Even with 1:1 odds;
Low (1 to 18) or High (19 to 36) with 1:1 odds;
Columns spanning top-to-bottom in 12s with 2:1 odds;
1st, 2nd, or 3rd 12 (e.g. 1 to 12) with 2:1 odds;
Single number bets with 35:1 odds;
Street betting in a 3-number row with odds of 11:1; and
Line bets covering 2 rows of 3 numbers with odds of 5:1
These are not all the betting options available, however, it paints a picture of how online roulette is played and the various betting options available.
Online roulette games will have an interactive interface where you can click (or tap) on numbers, colors, and/or betting types (e.g. 1st 12 or columns) to place down your chips.
Chips are incremental and can be anywhere between a penny in value to $100 (or your local currency) in value. The chips offered depends on the online roulette site or online casino in question. Most online roulette games have maximum stakes, too.
There is no uniform standard for the depositing and withdrawing of funds, unfortunately—each online roulette site and online casino is different. Payment methods, policies, rules, and regulations differ from site-to-site, country-to-country.
More often than not, all major payment methods (e.g. debit cards) are accepted in addition to e-wallets such as PayPal and Neteller. Depending on the site, cheques and bank transfers may even be offered. Newer sites tend to have fewer payment methods whereas older, more established sites will cover virtually everything.
So far as withdrawal times, policies, and limits are concerned, these are at the sole discretion of each provider. Some will process withdrawals immediately and some will take several business days. Generally speaking, withdrawing cash to e-wallets is much faster; you will usually get the funds in your account immediately after the site has processed your withdrawal.
On almost all online roulette sites and online casinos, deposits are instantaneous and the funds can be used immediately.