An Extensive Guide to Online Roulette for 2026

Roulette can possibly be the most antique of all casino games, deriving its origins from very ancient games. It is believed to have been based on a game in which there are arrows which are shot into holes in a disk (wheel) by the Romans, but it is likewise possible that it was derived from an ancient Chinese game which involves a wheel used as an instrument for human torture!

In the seventeenth century, the Frenchman Blaise Pascal introduced the Modern Roulette. He is a world famous mathematician and philosopher who was responsible for the invention of roulette (mini wheel) and introduced us to the majority of the game’s rules which we know today. Some years after that, the single zero roulette was introduced by the brothers Francois Blanc and Lois Blanc who knew that giving the game a 0 would present the House with an advantage.

European Roulette (the initial version of the game from France), spread across Europe by a storm, making its mark from the gambling dens of Germany to the gambling dens of Monaco where the royalty headed by King Charles III had it as the primary source of their income. Roulette’s real boom in terms of popularity reached its current hype when it was imported across the Atlantic to America.

With the gold rush in the states on the west of the country, the American Roulette was born to provide an entertainment for the nouveau riche miners who are looking for new forms of entertainment to spend their money on. In the American version though, there came an extra difference. It has an extra 00 (double zero) which provided the House with more advantage.

Now, 3D Roulette, Live Roulette, French Roulette, European Roulette, and American Roulette are loved by millions around the world with the help of online casinos.

The vocabulary used in Roulette is a testimony to its origins. It has a mix of French Terms and American Terms.

American wheel refers to the wheel that has an extra 00 compared to the European version and that increases the House Advantage. Total number for this wheel is 38.

Ball refers to the little color white ball which is allowed to spin around the wheel of the roulette until it eventually settles on a number.

Column bet or dozen bet, is a wager which is placed on a vertical column of twelve numbers (25-36, 13-24, 1-2) which comes with a payout of 2:1. It is known as “premiere 12” for a bet on the 1^st dozen and “derniere” for a bet on the last dozen of

Corner Bet (“carre” in French) is wager placed on 4 adjoining numbers and has a payout ratio of 8:1.

Croupier is the French alternate for the American term “dealer” usually used in American casinos or online casinos.

European Wheel is different from the American wheel in the sense that it has a single zero plus 36 numbers.

Even Bet is placing a bet on all even numbers.

Even Money Bet is any bet which payout is 1:1. Odd/even, red/back, high/low are under Even Money Bets

Five Number Bet is a bet on 1, 2, 3, 0, and 00 which is only used in American Roulette.

High/Low Bet is a bet placed on high which is 19-36 or low which is 1-18.

Inside Bet is a bet placed on numbers which are inside the inside area of the table.

Line Bet is a bet placed on a line of 6 numbers.

Odd Bet is a bet placed on the entirety of odd numbers except zero.

Outside Bet is a bet placed on any other thing except the numbers like red or black, or high or low.

Split Bet is a bet placed that covers 2 numbers.

Straight Up Bet is a bet placed on a single number.

Street Bet is a bet placed that covers a row of 3 numbers

Objective: To guess in which slot the ball will settle into.

Opponent: The House.

Process:

1. The players put in their bets. The bets may be placed on outside bets (i.e. odd or even, red or black, high or low), group of numbers (i.e. corners, columns, lines), single number.
2. Croupier/Dealer makes the roulette wheel spin. All the people who are part of the game watches to see which slot the ball will settle into.
3. Payouts are handed to the players by the croupier/dealer.

House Advantage: The advantage in American Roulette is 5.26% due to the addition of the double 0 (00), the advantage in European Roulette is 2.7%.

Payout odds:

36:1 or 37:1/38:1 for Straight up bet on 1 number

17:1 for Split bet on 2 numbers

11:1 for Street bet on 3 numbers

8:1 for Corner bet on 4 numbers

5:1 for 6 number bet

2:1 for Outside Dozen Bet or Column Bet

1:1 for Even Money Bets

Unlike other games which require mathematical strategy like Blackjack or Poker, there is no such need for winning in roulette. It does not matter if you are playing European Roulette or American Roulette, the game is utterly random. Each spin is independent from the other. With that being said, there are a number of strategies which you can utilize to get higher chances of winning. The following are 3 of such strategies:

Martingale Strategy refers to the most wide spread basic strategy in roulette. It is based on only betting on Even Money Bets (odds/evens, high/low, red/black) and betting twice the value of your stake after each loss. Since Even Money Bets is an even 50% game of odds, constant doubling of stakes makes it sure that the player will recover all his/her loses on the initial win. This strategy however entails the player to stick with his/her bet, if they chose red, then they must stick to it. The risk is when the player exceeds their bankroll limit if red does not show up in four spins, five spins, six spins and so forth.

D’Alembert Strategy is a strategy in which a player increases their wager value by 1 after every loss and decreases the wager value by 1 every after win. It has a lower risk compared to other strategies. The objective is to stop playing once the value of your wins is either equal or more than your losses. Wait until you are on even ground if you have started the game on the losing end and make sure to cash in your chips as soon as you can if you started the game on the winning end before you get back to 50/50.

James Bond Strategy works only for the European version of Roulette and needs the player to wager on column bets. It requires at least $200 hence it is usually a strategy reserved for the high-rollers. It is done by placing bets by: put 70 percent of funds on high numbers, 10 percent on 0, and 25 percent on low numbers. Your winning odds are just above 50 percent, if you hit low you lose and if you hit high you win.

• Roulette is a nice game if you are looking for a new game that does not need a lot of skill and is simple and fun to play.
• Roulette is not a nice game to play for those who wants to have a career from online gambling. A game like Poker lets you build strategy as you go against other players. In Roulette, you only go against the House which holds the advantage.
• Use Even Money Bets to increase your odds of winning. The risks is smaller though the reward is likewise smaller. Using this means your odds of winning can equal or might even exceed the losses.
• The top online casinos have both European Roulette and American Roulette. Trying both will let you see which one you like more.

Play first in free-money mode before you play for actual money, just like in other online casino games. An online casino worthy of patronage will have free-play roulette, letting the players to get an understanding of the rules and the wheel prior to actually depositing cash.