How to Play and Win at Online Roulette

Online roulette has been mesmerising players for many years as an internet-based version of the popular game that was invented as far back as the 1700s. Its attraction lies in its simplicity, with absolute newbies able to start placing bets and winning in just a few short minutes.

Whether you've played the game before and want to brush up on your knowledge, or you're totally new to the game, here you will learn everything you need to know about how to play online roulette, how to win and even some strategies you could try to spice up the action a bit! Let's get started...

How to Play Online Roulette

The online roulette game is very closely related to the original real-life version. Online roulette games usually feature a wheel and a table of some design. Some versions of the game are very much like real-life roulette in that there's a real person as the dealer and the wheel and table are physically real, as is the case with live dealer roulette.

In many RNG-based online roulette games, the wheel and table are computer generated and animated to look real. Sometimes the table is displayed to simulate a real roulette table, whereas other times, it's a panel of bets. Some games may even have several wheels! There is a wheel and a table of some kind in all cases, so let's see what each of these is for in more detail.

The Roulette Wheel

The focal point of online roulette is, of course, the wheel itself, which is a circular spinning device containing a row of pits around its circumference that itself is set within a large round, usually polished wooden frame that does not spin. This is the device used to determine the winning number for each game.

Each of the pits on the spinning wheel represents a number from 0 to 36, though there are two zero pits on an American Roulette wheel: 0 and 00. The numbers are laid out non-consecutively and designated alternating colours of red or black, with the zero(es) in green.

For each round of this best online casino game, the numbered wheel is spun in one direction, and a small white ball is launched in the opposite direction within the exterior frame that surrounds the wheel. As the ball slows down, it begins to drop towards the numbered wheel and catches on small bumpers as it does so. The ball then bounces as it catches the edges of the pits before finally settling into one of them, resulting in the winning number.

The Roulette Table

While the wheel is not an interactive element of the online roulette game in that only the live casino dealer gets to touch it, the table is where the player gets to act.

The online roulette table represents the numbers on the roulette wheel, and it's arranged to make it easy and accessible for players to place the various bets that are available. Usually consisting of some felt type design or effect, the roulette table generally features each of the numbers on the wheel in order on a 3x12 grid, with a special spot at the top for the 0 (and 00, if applicable).

This grid is split at one side into three sections of 1st 12, 2nd 12 and 3rd 12, traditionally called douzaines or dozens, then again into six sections, with two labelled 1 to 18 and 19 to 36, another two labelled Even and Odd, and the final two tagged Red and Black. Along the bottom, shorter side of the grid is another section that labels each of the three columns.

The Roulette Bets

Now that you're familiar with the table's layout, we can take a closer look at what the various areas represent in terms of placing bets. Online roulette bets can be categorised as either Inside or Outside bets. This refers to where the bet is placed on the table, with Inside bets placed inside the numbered grid while Outside bets are placed outside of it. Here are the main Inside and Outside bets and how to place them:

Roulette Inside Bets

• Straight Up: Place your chip directly on the number for an outright win
• Split: Place your chip on the line between two numbers to bet that either of them will win
• Street: Place your chip at either end of a row of three numbers (e.g. 1, 2, 3) to bet that any of them will win
• Corner: Place your chip at the common point of four digits to bet that any of them will win
• Line: Two streets next to each other; place your chip at either end of the common point of two rows of three numbers to bet that any of them will win

Roulette Outside Bets

• Red or Black: Place your chip on the colour you think the winning number will be
• Odd or Even: Place your chip on which you think the winning number will be
• High or Low: These are the 1 to 18 and 19 to 36 spots. Place your chip on which you think the winning number will be
• Dozens: These are the 1st 12, 2nd 12 and 3rd 12 marks. Place your chip on which you think the winning number will be
• Columns: Place your chip on the spot at the bottom of the column in which you think the winning number will be

How to Win Roulette

Winning an online roulette bet is as simple as having placed a chip on a number and having that number subsequently emerge as the winning number. That's what everyone wants, of course! But is there a way to guarantee those wins? Sadly no. Roulette is a game of luck, and it has been designed to be as unpredictable as possible, which means it isn't much you can do to swing those odds in your favour.

Some bets are more likely to win than others. For example, betting on a single number outright to come up gives you a 1 in 37 or 38 chance of winning, whereas betting on whether the winning number will be red or black, for example, carries a 1 in 2 chance (roughly) of coming up. However, the payouts of these different bets reflect the odds, with a straight-up bet paying more than a red or black bet.

So when thinking about how to win playing online roulette, you also need to consider what you will win for each of the different bets, which is what we'll look at next.

Online Roulette Payouts

Everyone likes to win, but is it better to win often or win big? Ideally, we'd all love to win big AND often, but if that were the case, the best online casinos would be out of business! There's a balance between winning big and often winning, and finding this helps to know what kind of payouts you can expect from the different online roulette bets. Let's take a look at them:

• Straight Up: 35:1 (i.e. if you bet €1, you win €35 back plus your stake of €1)
• Split: 17:1
• Street: 11:1
• Corner: 8:1
• Line: 5:1
• Red or Black: 1:1 (evens - though remember that because of the zero(es), it's not entirely 50/50!))
• Odd or Even: 1:1
• High or Low: 1:1
• Dozens: 2:1
• Columns: 2:1

As you can see, the payout for a straight-up bet is great, but the chances of that happening are not! On the other side, you've got a great opportunity for guessing red or black, for example, but you only profit by your original bet amount. It's precisely this variation that makes the game of online roulette so exciting to play: the entirely luck-driven nature of the game means you never know when those straight-up bets will come up for you!

Online Roulette Strategies

While it's true that the game of online roulette is mostly down to luck and that there's not much you can do to swing the odds in your favour, many players still find it fun and exciting to try different strategies. The usual initial approach to online roulette betting is called flat betting, which generally involves placing a set amount of chips on one or more bets, then repeating that same action on a different bet or bet, with no regard to the last chance or outcome.

In contrast, online roulette strategies involve adjusting your bet depending on how much you bet previously and the outcome. Positive betting progressions involve increasing your chance of winning, while negative betting progressions call for raised stakes when you lose. Here we'll take a brief look at four negative and two positive betting progression strategies for playing online roulette at European casinos, each of which applies to even money bets (Red/Black, Odd/Even and High/Low).

Martingale

One of the most famous online roulette strategies, the Martingale strategy, is a negative betting progression that involves doubling your bet when you lose and reverting to the original bet size when you win. So if your initial €2 bet loses, your next bet would be €4. Your next bet would be the original size bet of €2 again if it wins.

Grand Martingale

There is a slight twist on the Martingale strategy where you double your bet when you lose, but you add one to it. This system is slightly more attractive in that you're not just recouping losses but also potentially profiting when you win.

Fibonacci

Based on the mathematical sequence of numbers, this negative progression strategy dictates that your bet size is the sum of the previous two numbers in the sequence. So your first bet would be the sum of the first two numbers in the sequence, which are 0 and 1, to give you 1. If that bet loses, you bet the sum of the next two numbers in the series, which would be 1 and 1, to provide you with 2, and so on. If you win, you drop the last two numbers in the sequence and add those to give you your next bet amount.

D'Alembert

The last of the four negative progressions we'll look at here is the D'Alembert, which is a bit more manageable than the previous two. Here your bet increases when you lose and decreases by one when you win.

Reverse Martingale or Parlay

As the name suggests, this positive progression strategy involves the reverse of the Martingale so that you're doubling your bet when you win and reverting to the original bet size when you lose. The idea here is to minimise losses and capitalise on wins.

Paroli

This positive progression plays on the idea that wins come in streaks. In this strategy, you bet the same amount until you win, at which point you double your bet and keep doing so until you've had three wins in a row. If you lose, you revert your chance to its original size.

Do You Want to Play Online Roulette?

So now you know the basics of the game of online roulette, including what the wheel and table look like, how to place bets, and what you can expect to get back if you win. We've also taken a look at some of the most popular strategies that are out there if you're keen to experiment. So now it's time to put that knowledge into practice and have a go yourself!

Right here on this site, you can find a selection of some of the best and most trustworthy online casinos that offer various online roulette games you can explore. Please read our detailed reviews, check out the best bonus offers and pick a site that suits you best. Then you can make your first deposit, open an online roulette game and start making those lucky numbers pay!