Roulette Games
For an uncomplicated online real money table game play experience, considering trying your luck with online casino roulette. This casino classic is all about going with your gut and placing real money bets that match your gambling style—be it conservative or aggressive. With over 10 real money bets to choose from, roulette lets you opt for strong odds and moderate payouts, or low odds and sky-high payouts. There are enough betting options to satisfy everyone at casinos.
So what's the best way you should bet in roulette, online or live? In order to help you make wise real money decisions at the roulette table, we’ve put together this online roulette real money playing guide that covers everything from the game play rules to payouts and win probabilities. We also explain how different online roulette games affect your real money profits—something needed to form a roulette real money casino strategy to win. Keep reading for Ignition Casino’s free online comprehensive version of Online Roulette 101.
Understanding Online Roulette
Roulette has two game components: a betting layout and a wheel. The layout has numbers 0-36 (and 00 if you’re playing American Roulette), which are all colored either black or red except for the zeros, which are green. The roulette wheel has the same color-coded numbers—each with its own slot. After real money bets are placed, the croupier sends a ball flying counter-clockwise around the wheel, which moves in the opposite direction.
As the ball slows down, anticipation builds in the casinos, with each casino player watching their fate reach a verdict on the playing wheel. Whichever numbered (or colored) slot the ball lands on is the winner of the round. In order to win real money, you must have wagered on that same number or color on the betting layout before the game starts.
Real money payouts depend on the type of bet placed at the game table. If you were to place a bet on a single number and win, you’d walk away with the biggest roulette payout possible: 35/1. However, the likelihood of winning this bet is low. For better odds, you can bet on half the numbers on the board through Evens/Odds, Red/Black and High/Low bets. This low-risk bet pays even-money.
Roulette game real money bets aren’t the only factor determining the odds. The type of roulette you play also contributes to a higher or lower casino house edge, which we’ll get to as we explain the different roulette game variations available in our online casino when you play for real money.
Roulette Games You Can Play
In Ignition we have live roulette and in our casino Table Games section, there are four games or ways to play online roulette for real money. We have two games of American Roulette and two games of European Roulette. The main playing difference between both games are in the inclusion of the double-zero (00) in American Roulette, which leads to a bigger casino house edge. We’ll explain the pros and cons of each game.
American Roulette
Our standard game of American Roulette is designed for big and small screens alike when playing online at Ignition Casino. There are separate screens for the betting layout and wheel, making it easier to navigate on your smartphone than our “Classic” games.
Classic American Roulette
Classic American Roulette is our original and has the appearance of a roulette table at a brick-and-mortar casino. This game works best on a desktop when playing online at Ignition Casino.
European Roulette
If minimizing casino house edge is part of your approach to casino gaming, European Roulette should supersede American Roulette. The lack of a double-zero leads to a 2.60% casino house edge versus the 5.26% casino house edge of American Roulette.
Classic European Roulette
French call bets are exclusively available in our Classic European Roulette online. A racetrack beside the standard betting layout positions the numbers in a way conducive to easily and efficiently accessing these exotic bets at Ignition's online casino.
Dragon Roulette
Dragon Roulette adds a fun and profitable element to the wheel: multipliers! After you spin the wheel, a dragon will send out fireballs that become multipliers. If your wager is correct and a multiplier is active on that wager, your win can become dragon-sized. This is the game for roulette fans that want impressive style and BIG wins.
An Overview of Roulette Bets
In the introduction, we mentioned the wide range of betting options included in roulette, with high probability on one side of the spectrum and high payouts on the other side. These are your inside and outside bets.
Inside bets pay well because they comprise small ranges of numbers. When placing an inside bet, you’re betting on anywhere from one to six numbers using a single chip. Payouts range from 35/1 to 5/1. Outside bets comprise bigger groups of numbers; you can bet on either 12 or 18 numbers using a single chip. The odds of hitting a win are much greater with outside bets.
Inside Bets
• Single: Also known as a straight bet, the single is just one number.
• Split: Any two numbers beside each other on the betting layout can be grouped together under a “split” bet.
• Street: The betting layout has a dozen three-number rows.
• Bet on all three numbers of any row as part of a “street” bet.
• Corner: Four numbers that form a square on the betting layout can be bet with a single chip through the “corner” bet.
• Line: Group two street bets together to form a “line” bet for the best win probability of all the inside bets.
Outside Bets
• Even-Money Bets: Betting on all the red or black numbers, evens or odds, or high or low numbers make up the even-money bets available to roulette players.
• Dozen/Column: Bet on either the first, second or third dozen numbers using the “dozens” bet, and either of the three columns to win 2/1 payouts.
Online Roulette Odds
Knowing the roulette play odds for each bet will help you make informed decisions at the tables online. We’ve broken down the play probability based on the game of roulette (European vs. American) to show how the win probability differs. Ready to spin the wheel?
Inside Bets Odds: European Roulette
Straight: 2.70%
Split: 5.4%
Street: 8.1%
Corner: 10.8%
Line: 16.2%
Inside Bet Odds: American Roulette
Straight: 2.60%
Split: 5.3%
Street: 7.9%
Corner: 10.5%
Line: 15.8%
Basket: 13.16%
Outside Bet Odds: European Roulette
Red/Black: 48.6%
Evens/Odds: 48.6%
High/Low: 48.6%
Dozens: 32.4%
Columns: 32.4%
Outside Bet Odds American Roulette
Red/Black: 47.4%
Evens/Odds: 47.4%
High/Low: 47.4%
Dozens: 31.6%
Columns: 31.6%
Understanding the Roulette Betting Systems
When you play online roulette games, most betting systems have players increase or decrease play wagers in response to winning and losing a play round. The Martingale System, for example, recommends doubling a bet after each losing play round in order to make sure you win back everything lost and then be ahead one wager. For example, let’s say you win three rounds, lose two and then win one. Here’s what your bankroll would look like when beginning with $5 wagers:
| Round | Wager | Outcome | Total |
| 1 | $5 | Win | $5 |
| 2 | $5 | Win | $10 |
| 3 | $5 | Win | $15 |
| 4 | $5 | Lose | $10 |
| 5 | $10 | Lose | $0 |
| 6 | $20 | Win | $20 |
As you can see, the $15 total in winnings was lost during the losing streak, but doubling the bet meant regaining the $15 plus one wager ($5) for a total of $20.
It’s important to know that no betting system is perfect, and the issue with the Martingale System is in how quickly the progressive bet sizes can rip through a bankroll or hit the maximum allowable bet size at a roulette table. For example, it would only take seven consecutive losses to go over the table maximum of $500 at Ignition Casino when you start with $5 wagers.
Online Roulette Strategy
Roulette is one of those casino games where the only play decisions you make are in casino game selection and betting options. In terms of casino game selection, online European Roulette is best. This casino version has numbers 0-36 instead of 00-36, and as a result, the house edge is almost half of that of online American Roulette (2.60% instead of 5.26%). All the bets in European Roulette have the same 2.60% house edge, so choosing what bets to make is based on your risk tolerance. The risk-averse will be better off sticking to outside bets, while players who want to win big will get what they want from the inside bets.
If American Roulette is the only casino option to play, here’s one key piece of roulette advice: avoid the Basket bet, which carries a larger house edge (7.89%) than the other American Roulette bets. Other than that, all American Roulette bets carry the same 5.26% house edge, so bet according to your style.
Bankroll management should also be a component of any roulette play strategy. Before starting a session, decide how much money you want to dedicate to it and how many play rounds you want. Based on this information, you’ll know how much you can afford to bet per round. For example, if you have $250 and want to play 50 rounds of roulette, you can afford to stake $5 per bet. Once your play rounds are up, check your total bankroll to see if you beat the house.
When it comes to a thrilling casino experience, roulette is hard to beat. The spinning ball and revolving wheel builds anticipation in a way that card and dice games can’t replicate. It’s also one of the few games where you can double your money in close to a 50/50 bet, while also having the play option to make 35X your stake by guessing that one lucky number. Are you feeling lucky? Test it out with one of our four games of online roulette today.