Roulette is a very popular table game played at many casinos around the world, from Monte Carlo to Las Vegas, including online casinos. The word “roulette” actually derives from the French word “little wheel”. This game was first introduced in the 18th century, but in the 19th century, it was spread throughout Europe and the United States. In time, the game of roulette had become famous worldwide.
There are three main types of Roulette played in casinos: European Roulette, French Roulette and American Roulette. In addition to these basic types, you can find other fun to play roulette variations, such as Mini Roulette, which is played much like the classic version of Roulette, but there are fewer numbers on the wheel.
In European Roulette, the wheel has 37 numbered and colored pockets, representing 36 numbers and one zero. The American Roulette wheel has two zeros and 38 numbered and colored pockets. For European Roulette, the house edge is 2.7% whilst on American Roulette, the house edge is 5.26%. This means that it is preferable to play European Roulette.
But if you were wanting to play traditional roulette with a real roulette wheel and casino dealers, you were required to visit a land-based casino establishment. Fortunately, Live Dealer Roulette games are increasingly found at online casinos as they’ve closed the gap between the online and brick-and-mortar gaming experiences.
How Does Live Dealer Roulette Actually Work?
Playing live dealer roulette online is just like playing in a casino only faster because the bets are automatically settled. The live dealer roulette games can be played through the downloadable casino software, which handles the bets and live streaming of the dealers.
There is usually at least cameras to record the video feed of the live dealer roulette and the table. A table shot, an overview, and a camera to broadcast the wheel. Although the wheel shot will switch to the croupier so he/she can announce the winning number. From a player’s point of view, it’s exactly like playing roulette at a casino, only you get to experience it from the comfort of your own home and you can place bets at the simple click of your mouse.
At online casinos you can find all of the popular roulette variations, including European Live Dealer Roulette, French Live Dealer Roulette and American Live Dealer Roulette. These tables are broadcast in a live studio and you’ll be able to chat with the dealer at your table using the chat box and hear responses via the live stream.
How to Play Live Dealer Roulette
To play live dealer roulette online, it’s very simple to do. Once the dealer on the live stream asks you to “Place Your Bets” each player selects the colored chips that they want to bet and clicks on the table where they wish to make bets. You can place as many bets as you would like just as long as it’s within the betting limits for the live roulette table.
In live roulette games, the main job of the dealer is spinning the roulette wheel and releasing the ball into it in a clockwise direction. Just a few seconds before the ball falls into one of the pockets found in the wheel, the croupier announces “No More Bets”. From this moment onwards, no player is allowed to place new bets or change existing bets on the table.
After the ball stops, the croupier announces the winning number and the color, red or black, and all winning bets are settled automatically. The winners are the players who had bets on or around the number that the ball ended up falling into.
There is also a rule in European Roulette known as “En Prison” rule. This can only be placed on even money bets such as odd-even, black-red, etc. In this case the ball lands on zero, online casinos that offer en prison holds the losing bets “en prison” for use in the next game.
In French Roulette, which is similar to European Roulette, there is another rule that is fairly similar to the “En Prison” rule. It is known as the “La Partage” rule. In the case the ball lands on zero, the player loses half the stake but half the stake is returned to the player. So no bet is left for the next game.
Understand the Bets and Odds
Roulette offers a wide variety of betting options and payouts. Roulette bets can range from predicting the exact number to a group of numbers to odds/evens to black/red. Players are allowed to make a bet on a single number or a group of numbers by placing a number of inside/outside bets. Outside bets are placed in the designated betting sections outside of the numbered area, such as even or odd numbers.
Betting on a single number pays 35 to 1. A split bet is a two number bet that pays 17 to 1 if the ball lands on one of the two numbers. A street bet is a three number bet, which pays 11 to 1. Corner betting pays 8 to 1 should the ball land on one of four numbers. Six line betting pays 5 to 1 when the ball lands on six numbers.
You can also bet on twelve numbers on either 1-12, 13-24, 25-36, a dozen bet which pays 2 to 1. A column bet allows you to bet on a particular column of numbers, another outside bet which also pays 2 to 1. Additionally, when playing American Roulette, there is the first five bet (0, 00, 1, 2, 3) which pays 6 to 1.
When it comes to winning in live dealer roulette luck plays a big role. Some players choose to bet on the winning numbers that come up often during a game. This is not hard to do even when you’re playing Live Roulette because you will be able to see the Hot and Cold Numbers which displays the previous numbers that have recently come up.
Some like to play numbers that have not come up for a while, because they believe that it is their turn to come up again soon. Other players like to bet on a group of numbers to increase their chances of winning, but the payouts for hitting the numbers are lower.
Amaya Gaming and Realtime Gaming are two of the foremost providers of software to the online gaming industry. RTG was founded in 1999 and is based in both Atlanta and Costa Rica. This software company has amassed a wealth of knowledge over the years – a fact that clearly shows in their game designs and in the extensive portfolio of casino games they offer to their licensees. 
