Roulette Game Guide

For centuries, people have referred to Roulette as the King of casino games, and in many respects it is – not the least of which because it’s based 100% on chance, making it the purest form of gambling that there is. The outcome cannot be predicted or rigged, so you have the same chance with every spin.

In online casino roulette, there is a wheel with 36 slots on it. To win a game of roulette, you must correctly guess where the little ball will end up when it gets dropped into the spinning wheel. You will be paid out at odds.

How to play roulette

Next to the Roulette wheel is a board with numbers on it, representing all of the possible slots that the ball could end up in. You make a wager by placing chips on the number you think will win.

Then the dealer spins the wheel, and drops a little ball into it, letting it bounce around. It will come to rest in one of the numbered slots – and that number is the winner.

The key to playing successful roulette is understanding that you can make more than one bet on any given spin, and knowing which bets are available. The highest payout odds on European Roulette is usually around 35:1 and American Roulette is 36:1 – are awarded for correctly guessing which slot the ball will end up in, but these are by no means the only odds on offer. The numbers are divided into three groupings, and you can place a 2:1 bet that the ball will come to rest within one of the groupings. You can also place an even bet on it coming out in an odd number, an even number, or on one of the two available slot colours (usually red and black).

European Roulette

Roulette Strategy

The most common Roulette strategy is called the Martingale method. Play a game of Roulette, and if you lose, double your bet. Continue to double your bet until you win. That way, when you win, you instantly make back everything you lost to acquire the win. This method works, but has limited success on tables with maximum betting limits.

A far more successful strategy is called the Pinder-Schloss Split, and works by wagering only on the number groupings. Each grouping of 12 numbers carries a 2:1 payout. Covering them all would result in a guaranteed win every time, but also a net loss. The Pinder-Schloss Split strategy is to place the maximum wager on 2 of the 3 groupings, giving you a 66% chance of winning on each spin. You will always lose one of the bets, but in terms of return, you earn 50% on your total outlay every time you win. For example, suppose you lay R500 each on 2 groups, and one of them wins. You lose one of your R500 bets, but your other returns you $1,000 plus your initial wager back. You have therefore made a $500 profit on a $1,000 wager.