It goes without saying that the legendary classic table game – Roulette – is quite popular. Spinning of the wheel with a ball has been making gambling lovers’ hearts beat faster for several centuries. Even those who have never visited gambling venues know about the queen of casinos. The undeniable fact is that entering a casino for the first time, a player will definitely try their luck at the roulette table.
Historical background of roulette
The roulette is believed to be invented in France in 18th century, hence the name “roulette” meaning “wheel” in translation from French. Very quickly, the game obtained a wide popularity in Europe but it required more time to be known in the New World. Peak of popularity of the table game was at the second half of 20th century when the roulette became available for all people despite their social class.
There are also other versions of the game origin, for example, that the roulette was brought to Europe from China or that it was invented by mathematician Blaise Pascal. Despite the contradictions of versions, the undeniable fact is that nowadays the roulette is the most popular casino game all over the world.
Online roulette
Due to the Internet and development of online casinos, the roulette has moved over to the net. Online casinos have revealed even more opportunities for players than land-based ones. One can play almost all kinds of roulette at once in virtual gambling rooms while land-based casinos simply can’t contain such amount of tables.
Moreover, nowadays very popular is a live roulette allowing players to feel all niceties and enjoy a real game atmosphere.
Varieties of online roulette game
Both land-based and online casinos determine three major types of roulette: French, American and European. But as mentioned above, online casinos have more opportunities for providing a range of roulette types because besides major varieties of the game, there are also the following: mini roulette, zero less roulette, La Boule roulette, card roulette, character roulette, roulette with tooltips, HD roulette, 3D roulette, multi-wheel roulette, multi-ball roulette, pinball roulette, lotto roulette etc.
We will review the main differences and features of the most popular online roulette types but, initially, let’s take a look at the rules and core of the classic game.
Rules of roulette
A roulette table consists of a wheel with drawn numbers from 1 to 36, zero sector and a table for bets. None of the games in the world have such variety and opportunities of bets that the roulette has.
The roulette has the following main bets:
Straight Up – bet on a single number.
Split – bet on two neighboring numbers when the check is placed at the margin of sectors.
Street – bet on three neighboring numbers when the check is placed at the margin of the end number sector. One can also bet on three numbers including zero or three numbers plus zero.
Corner – bet on four numbers where the check is placed in the center of four sectors.
Sixline – bet on six numbers when the check should be placed on the crossing of two lines with three numbers.
Black and red bets – a player bets on the color.
Even and Odd bets – a player bets on even and odd numbers.
Bets on low numbers (1-18) and high numbers (19-36).
Column bets – a player bets on one of three vertical columns on the layout.
Dozen bets – a player bets on one of three dozens of numbers on the layout.
When the player chooses their bet, the game starts. Players don’t play against each other; they play against casino, in this very case – against croupier. After the classical phrase “All bets done. No more bets”, the croupier throws the ball on rotating roulette wheel with a typical movement. When the ball falls into one of pockets on the wheel, one checks, which bets are played.
French, European and American
It is European roulette that is considered to be the oldest one and the one all others originated from. In this game, the wheel is divided into 37 sectors, from 1 to 36 and one zero sector. All numbers are out of order, zero is always green and 1 is red. The European roulette doesn’t provide zero bets, and if this sector is drawn, all bets go to the casino.
French roulette differs from the European in that bets can be placed not only on the table but also on the roulette wheel, the so-called, additional or verbal bets. For instance, a bet on numbers around zero.
American roulette includes the second zero – a double zero sector. Besides, if this sector is drawn, the casino takes all bets. Casino chances are doubled but the risk is also increased.
Mini roulette
Playtech, the famous online casino game developer, has launched a mini roulette, which layout and wheel use numbers from 1 to 12 including zero. Bets in the mini roulette are similar to European ones: color, number, even/odd, and various number combinations (from 1 to 6, from 4 to 9) or rows of numbers (3, 6, 9, 12). There are also mini roulette variations with a double zero sector. In general, the game is considered to be easier and suitable for newcomers due to lesser amount of sectors.
Zero less roulette
The title of this roulette explains its concept: it doesn’t have zero. It should be noted that due to the absence of zero section, the casino can charge a certain, even symbolic, fee per each bet in such roulette. Thus, you should carefully learn the rules and bets fee.
La Boule and other uncommon roulette types
Boule roulette is roulette where a traditional wheel is replaced for a bowl with pockets for a ball, with each number being repeated 4 times and, besides black and red sectors, there are yellow ones serving as zeros.
In the card roulette, a player guesses a suit and value of the cards that will appear while dealing cards. In character roulette, the layout and wheel depict Latin characters. HD and 3D roulettes are samples of high quality graphics. Roulette with tooltips offers players statistics on games. Roulette with several wheels allows players to bet on several reels at once, which are spinning independently of each other.
There are other uncommon roulette types designed by game developers for online casinos in order to diversify a game portfolio and offer players something very special.
Developers of online casino roulette
Slotegrator recommends playing roulette from the best online casino software developers.
XproGaming, a leading manufacturer of live casino content, provides live roulette broadcasting from its own studio in Europe. Such distinctive features as croupiers’ high professionalism, HD quality of video broadcasting, convenient game interface, game process security, make XPG roulette one of the best at the market.
Ezugi, a developer of live casino games, offers players classic roulette and double ball roulette. Classic roulette has the following functional capabilities that distinguish it among others:
- Unlimited Number of Players
- Game History (Numbers, Hot/Cold Numbers, Recent Winners)
- Video and Audio Controls
- Live Chat
- Dealer Tipping
- Side Betting
- Other Games Video as Picture-in-Picture
- Mini and Nano Games
- Facebook, Twitter and Other Social Tool
- Player Engagement and Share/Invite functionality
- Live Music on Demand
- Fully customizable Limits and Chips
- Simultaneous Playing Multiple Games or Tables
Double ball roulette has similar functionality with the main advantage: there are two balls making the game more dramatic and exciting, doubling players’ chances to win.
Such world famous brands as NetEnt, Microgaming and BetSoft, have not overlooked roulette.
NetEnt has developed several types of roulette including American, European, French and live roulettes.
Microgaming has several types of roulettes including American, European, and French referring to Roulette Gold Series and representing the best 3D graphics samples. Moreover, the manufacturer is launching such roulette types as Multi Wheel Gold, Premier Roulette and Roulette Royale.
Betsoft offers gamers to play the following types of roulettes: European, American and Common Draw Roulette, with the latter one being multiplayer.
Tom Horn also offers its varieties of American and European roulettes.
Diversity of roulette types, options, brands and designs is just stunning. It offers huge opportunities and choice for players and operators choosing roulette for their casino. The undeniable fact is that whatever roulette you integrate into your game portal, it will be definitely played. This table game is considered to be one of the most profitable at the online gambling market.
