The beginner's guide to online roulette gambling games

We can say that roulette is one of the most popular table games in every casino - this classic game has been played for over 200 years and attracts beginners as well as professional gamblers. But before you start playing at top roulette casinos, you need the basics: we have prepared this article for this purpose.

Roulette is thought to have been invented by the French mathematician Blaise Pascal. Some historians think it evolved from an Italian game called “Bribi”. Whatever the truth, we know that roulette first appeared in France in the 18th century. In its original form, roulette had two casino pockets (0-00) on the wheel, but in 1843, Louis Blanc reduced the number of casino pockets to one (0) to give players more chances and compete with other casinos. You actually know who Louis Blanc is - he was the owner of the famous Monte Carlo casino. It was he who created the single zero variant of roulette, which is now known as “European roulette”.

A single zero roulette wheel has 37 numbers from 0 to 36 (double zero wheels have 38 numbers in total). The croupier spins the wheel, drops the ball on it, and the ball can land on any of these numbers. All bet options are shown on the table. Accordingly, players can bet on a single number or a range of numbers. Likewise, it is possible to bet on a particular colour (red/black) or whether the outcome will be an odd or even number.

Each of these options offers a different chance to win and payout. The highest payout is 35:1 and is paid when a bet is placed on a single number and won. The more numbers you bet, the higher your chance of winning, but the payout will decrease accordingly. For example, red/black, where you bet almost half of the numbers on the wheel, pays only 1:1. In land-based casinos, players place their chips on the numbers they choose to bet, and this is possible until the dealer says "no more bets". The process of placing bets is the same in online casinos, but the person spinning the wheel is the player himself.

There are many different types of roulette, but it is possible to collect them all under three main categories: European, American, and French. The most common among them is European roulette, and many other variants such as Immersive, First-Person, and Multi-Wheel are based on this one. This variant has a single zero, and its betting options are uncomplicated. European roulette offers an RTP of 97.30%. This value means that for every 100 units of investment you make, you can earn back 97.30 units in the long run.

In American roulette, the wheel has two zeros (0-00). These pockets belong to the casino. This design increases the game's house edge and decreases its RTP. As a matter of fact, the RTP of American roulette is only 94.74%. This variant also has a special type of bet called “basket”. In this bet, you wager on a total of 5 numbers (0, 00, 1, 2, 3).

French roulette, on the other hand, is a variant with one zero on the wheel and is basically the same as European roulette. However, it is played with one of the special betting rules called "le prison" and "la partage". There is also a special field called “racetrack” on the table where it is possible to place bets that cover multiple numbers (e.g., Voisins du zero, Le tiers du cylindre, etc.). Due to betting rules, players who bet on outcomes that pay 1:1 and lose either get half of the bet back or another chance for the same outcomes in the next game. Due to these special rules, the RTP of French roulette can be as high as 98.65%.