How to Play Roulette Online: A Beginner’s Guide
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Although at first glance roulette might come off as a game of chance, there’s more to it than meets the eye. Easy to master, this live casino game will keep you on the edge of your seat with every spin. So if you’re ready to experience the thrill of the game but are yet to learn how to play roulette online - you’ve come to the right place! Welcome to our beginner’s guide to live roulette!
How Does Roulette Work
Roulette is an easy and straightforward game which invites players to strategically apply a combination of bets to predict where the ball will land once the wheel stops spinning.
The word roulette stems from the French word for little wheel. Appropriately named, this game requires the dealer to spin a wheel that’s divided in numbered pockets, and then release a ball into it. As the wheel loses momentum, the ball settles in a pocket to reveal the winning predictions. While the ball can only land in one pocket, you can bet on various sections of the wheel. Here are a few examples of how to bet in roulette:
- Bet on a sector of the wheel
- Bet on the parity of the winning number
- Bet on the colour of the winning number
- Bet on higher or lower groups of numbers
But before we get into the nitty-gritty of things, it’s important you first get familiar with your roulette essentials! Keep reading our basic roulette guide to get a good understanding of how to play live roulette.
What Is the Role of the Roulette Dealer
Automatic roulettes aside, all of our wheels are manned by a dealer. Unlike in land-based casinos, in live roulette, the dealers don’t handle physical chips or pay out your bets. Instead, their role is to host the table and make your experience as enjoyable as possible.
At LeoVegas we pride ourselves in hosting an approachable team of dealers. Our dealers will welcome any questions you may have about the game. Just click the Chat feature on any of our games to connect with our fun and friendly crew!
Did you know? Some of our dealers have past work experience in land-based casinos. Apart from this, all of our dealers have received training at dedicated live casino academies.
What Is the Roulette Table Layout
Roulette Table Layout
Each table follows a standard layout but you’ll find that some variants may stray from your average set-up. Given that you’re still learning how to play live roulette, we recommend you first get familiar with European roulette before exploring other variations.
Sectioned off in a grid-like manner, a typical roulette table layout features 37 whole numbers, ranging from 0 to 36. Each number also constitutes a different colour - be it red, black or green. Around the border of your grid, you’ll also notice 12 different divisions, these are your Outside Bets.
Roulette Wheel Numbers
Structured in line with the table, a regular roulette wheel has 37 numbers. 18 of these numbers are painted black (2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 11, 13, 15, 17, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 29, 31, 33, 35) while 18 other numbers are coloured red (1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 12, 14, 16, 18, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 30, 32, 34, and 36). The last remaining number is the 0 and this is coloured green on the wheel as well as on the roulette table layout.
Roulette Ball
At the beginning of every round, a ball is spun into the wheel to reveal the winning number. This ball can vary in size. Typically speaking, your average roulette ball is ⅝’’ in diameter, but bigger wheels will typically feature balls as large as ¾’’. These are generally made from Ivorine or Teflon. Ivorine balls are considered highly volatile due to their bouncy nature while Teflon balls are heavier and, therefore, more predictable.
Did you know: A roulette wheel is also known as the Devil’s Wheel because the numbers on the wheel add up to 666, the number of the beast.
How Does Roulette Betting Work
The most commonly used roulette bets are the Inside Bets and Outside Bets which are displayed on the table. Some games also feature a number of Call Bets - more commonly known as Special Bets. The Special Bets add some extra sections of the wheel to bet on (i.e. Neighbours of Zero, Thirds of the Wheel).
The inside bets are the ones on specific numbers, while the outside bets are the ones on colour, parity, or general groups of numbers (i.e. first column, second dozen). Some players like to play “all or nothing” with straight bets on the winning number(s), while others like to use the outside bets. It’s good to know that you can also mix different types of bets or place multiple bets at the same time.
For example, one betting round could look like this:
- 1st bet: the ball will fall on a red number from the first column section
- 2nd bet: the ball will fall on 7
- 3rd bet: the bal will fall on the 2nd dozen section
You’ll know a table is open for bets when the words “PLACE YOUR BETS” appear on the screen. At this point, the dealer will prompt you to place your chips on the table to lock-in your bets. Once the ball is spun, you’ll see the phrase “BETS CLOSED” and betting will be temporarily suspended until the end of the round.
The betting time varies from one table to another, allowing you to determine the ideal pace for your game. If you prefer a faster game, then Speed Live Roulette is the ideal game for you! In this game, spins are just 8 seconds apart - wasting very little time on betting.
Once the wheel has had its say, the interface will highlight the winning number and pay out all winning bets. On the other hand, in standing roulette tables, the dealer marks the winning number with a dolly. A staple in land-based casinos, the dolly is traditionally used to shield the winning bets as the other chips are cleared from the table. All the while, this ensures that other players don’t add more chips on the winning number while the dealer is looking the other way.
In most land-based casinos, betting is suspended until all bets have been paid out but this is not the case with online live roulette as bets are automatically paid out, sparing no time between one round and the other.
What Are Roulette Chips Worth
When learning how to play roulette, you must understand how to use roulette chips as these are your currency in the game. Your chips are displayed at the bottom of the screen and represent your bet, just as they would in a regular land-based casino.
Each chip is colour coded, representing a different bet value. It’s important to know that chip values may vary from one provider to another so don’t rely on the colour of the chip when betting - but rather the value displayed on the interface. Typically speaking, though, the minimum chip value in an online roulette game ranges anywhere from 0.20 to 5000. Far less than what you would find at your regular land-based casino!
In LeoVegas Live Roulette, chips are worth the following:
- Blue Chip: 0.20
- Gray Chip: 1
- Red Chip: 5
- Green Chip: 25
- Brown Chip: 50
- Black Chip: 100
When you’re convinced about your bet, simply click the chip value you want to put forward on the table and place your bet in the respective area of the table.
Why Play Roulette Online
As an online casino, we’re committed to offering you the greatest gaming experience, even when you’re playing from home! For this reason, online roulette tables offer several in-game features that can prove pivotal to your experience.
Chat Feature
Something we’ve already mentioned in passing is the Chat feature which allows you to interact with our dealers as the game unfolds. Click the Live Chat to start a conversation with our dealers or to pick up a few tricks of the trade from more experienced players.
In-Game Statistics
Another thing that you’ll come to appreciate with time is the in-game statistics. Although roulette goes against the rules of probability, you can choose to bet on Hot Numbers and Cold Numbers. Calculated on the most recent 500 rounds, Hot Numbers indicate the most frequently drawn numbers while Cold Numbers suggest which numbers are performing poorly.
Favourite Bets Feature
Then there’s also the Favourite Bets feature which allows you to conveniently save up to 15 bets at a time. Remember when we spoke about Live Speed Roulette earlier? This feature comes especially in handy when playing with such short betting times. What’s more, this feature is available on all our tables which means you can access your saved bets at any time, so long as you’re playing a game by the same provider!
Play Roulette At LeoVegas Live Casino
We could go on forever about the appeal of playing live roulette but that wouldn’t be any fun! It’s time for you to spread your wings in our live casino. After all, practice makes perfect - there’s no better way to learn how to play roulette online!
If you want to put your learnings to the test before playing live, we recommend LeoVegas Roulette, our First Person roulette table. When you’re ready to experience the real deal, just press the ‘GO LIVE’ button at the bottom of the table to gain instant access to LeoVegas Live Roulette. Otherwise, click the button below to pick and choose from our first-class roulette offering.