Live Dealer Roulette

There is hardly any person in this world that cannot recognize the iconic roulette wheel. Even if you have never walked through the doors of a casino, you have seen the game on the TV. Roulette has turned into an iconic game and what is more interesting is that it is one of the few games that remained almost the same over the years.

Often referred to as the Devil’s Game, roulette was invented in the 18th century in France. The main idea behind the game was to increase revenue for the treasury. Many would ask why such a pleasant game as roulette is nicknamed the Devil’s Game – and here is the answer: there are many myths and legends related to roulette, but what catches the attention is the fact that the sum of all 36 numbers on the wheel equals 666 – the number of the Beast.

A lot can be said about the history of the game, but we would like to pay more attention to its present image. The latest craze in the gambling industry is live dealer games. Needless to say, roulette was one of the first games (together with blackjack) to go live.

• ✓ Rules
• ✓ Types of Bets
• ✓ Features
• ✓ Software Providers
• ✓ Live Roulette Variants
• ✓ House Edge
• ✓ Strategies

In live roulette, a human dealer spins a real roulette wheel in real time. The action might take place in a land-based casino or purpose-built live casino studio. The game is live-streamed to the players’ screens thanks to advanced technologies. Live roulette has brought players as close as possible to the real casino experience, and that is the driving idea behind all casino games.

Live Dealer Roulette Rules

One does not need to have in-depth knowledge of roulette to play the game in a live dealer casino and win. Live roulette attracts players of different skill levels due to its simplicity and a ton of betting options. In a nutshell, you place a bet trying to predict the winning number.

After the betting session is closed, a dealer spins a wheel in one direction and tosses a small plastic ball on the rim of the wheel in the opposite direction. The ball starts to lose velocity and eventually falls into one of the numbered pockets.

And this is the moment that makes hearts of roulette enthusiasts beat like crazy. If you made the right bet, you can bag a significant amount of money. But а wrong prediction might reduce you to beggary.

The Roulette Wheel

Live roulette uses the same wheel that can be found in a land-based gambling establishment. Generally speaking, the roulette wheel consists of a wooden static bowl with plastic elements and a wheelhead which is responsible for rotating the bowl. The bowl is usually made of an expensive wooden material that makes the wheel look so classy.

Generally speaking, there are 3 main types of roulette (American, European, and French), and 2 variations of the wheel layout. In fact, the European version of the wheel is inspired by the French roulette wheel and they share the same layout.

It is extremely easy to differentiate between the American roulette wheel and its European counterpart, as the former features an extra double-zero pocket, and the latter has only one zero pocket. In other words, the American roulette wheel has 38 pockets, while the European roulette wheel offers 37 numbered compartments. Both types of wheels feature the numbers from 1 to 36, which are alternately coloured in red and black. The zero pockets are coloured in green.

The single-zero roulette wheel has its numbers placed randomly, while consecutive numbers on the American roulette wheel are placed opposite each other. What is more, is that all red numbers are opposite the black ones.

As we already mentioned above, live dealer roulette makes no difference from its land-based counterpart. Hence, roulette devotees who prefer to play their favourite game at a live table should be informed that they will find these two types of roulette wheels.

Roulette Table Layout

The layout of the table depends on which variation of the game one prefers to play. American and European live roulette feature almost the same table layout with the only exception that at the American roulette tables there is an extra betting box for the additional double-zero compartment on the wheel.

Depending on the bet you would like to place, there are inside and outside betting sections. The inside betting field consists of small numbered boxes, corresponding to the numbers on the wheel. The outside betting section provides extra betting options such as odd/even, red/black, etc.

The layout of the French live roulette table is quite different due to the extra betting options. In addition to that, the names of the betting options are in French. This should not startle you as live dealer casinos offer English translation below the French name. The outside betting section is split into two parts and placed along both sides of the layout, while on the American and European variation, the outside betting field is to be found on the left side of the table layout.

Live Roulette Types of Bets

If you decide to play roulette in a live dealer casino, you will see that the table layout offers many different betting areas where you can wager on a single number or different groups of numbers. Needless to say, the bigger risk you take, the higher the odds of winning are. Roulette types of bets can be classified into 3 main categories – inside, outside, and announced bets.

Inside Bets

When you join a live roulette table, you will be required to place your initial bet. To do so, you should choose the amount of money you want to wager and drag chips of this value to the inside betting section of the layout. The inside bets are placed on a number or a combination of numbers. There are 7 types of inside bets, including:

• Straight – one places a bet on a particular number. To do so, the player should drag the amount of chips he/she wants to wager to the box of the number. This bet comes with a payout of 35:1.
• Split – this bet is placed on two numbers that are adjacent on the table. To place a split bet, the player needs to drag his/ her chips on the line that is in between the squares with the preferred numbers. If any of these two numbers win, the player bags 17:1 payout.
• Street – this bet covers three consecutive numbers that are on the same line. To place a street bet, live dealer grinders need to place the amount of chips they want to wager on the outer corner of the row. In case one of the numbers wins, you will enjoy an 11:1 payout.
• Six Line – this bet covers 6 numbers of a consecutive rank placed on two adjacent lines. To make such a bet, you should click on the amount of chips you would like to place and drag them to the common outer corner of the two lines. This bet pays 8:1.
• Corner – this bet is placed on four adjacent numbers that form a square on the layout. It is also referred to as a “square” bet and you need to place your chips in the middle of the square. This bet comes with an 8:1 payout.
• Five-Number Bet – this bet covers five numbers, including 0, 00, 1, 2, and 3. It is also called a top line bet and it is offered by the American version of roulette. This bet has the reputation of having the highest house edge, but if you decide to take the risk, you need to place chips on the outer corner of the two lines. The payout is 6:1.
• Basket/First Four – it is a four-number bet that involves the zero box. In other words, it covers 0, 1, 2, and 3 and it pays out 6:1.
• Snake Bet – this bet is quite new and it covers the following numbers – 1, 5, 9, 12, 14, 16, 19, 23, 27, 30, 32, and 34. Snake bet is a combination of 12 straight bets. The name of the bet comes from the pattern that the chips make on the table when such a bet is placed. This bet is not offered at every table. If any of the abovementioned numbers win, the house pays 35:1.

Outside Bets

Outside bets are the perfect choice for players who want to be on the safe side. These types of bets are placed on a category of numbers, which means that you have a better chance of winning. It is important to note that such bets come with lower payouts as they are less risky.

• Columns – it covers 12 numbers arranged in the same column on the roulette table layout.
• Dozens – this bet covers one of the following dozens of numbers:  1-12, 13-24, or 25-36.
• Odd/Even – when placing such a bet, players are trying to predict whether the winning number will be odd or even.
• Red/Black – this bet covers all the numbers marked in red or black colour.
• High/Low – this bet covers either all the low numbers (from 1 to 18) or all the high numbers (from 19 to 36).

What is important to explain is that Red/Black, Odd/Even, and High/Low bets are called even-money bets. In addition to that, players should be informed that in case the ball falls in the zero pocket, none of the outside bets win.

Live dealer casino fans who prefer playing French roulette should be aware of the fact that they can benefit from the En Prison and La Partage rules that reduce the house edge. These two rules are active when the ball falls in the zero-numbered compartment of the wheel and you placed an even-money outside bet.

Under the En Prison rule, the casino puts the bet “in prison” and bettors play with it during the next spin. In case their bet wins, players will get back the complete amount of their original bet. According to the La Partage rule, the online casino automatically pays 50% back of the original bet.

Announced Bets

Before we start delving into the so-called announced bets, we would like to note that many people are confusing them with the “called bets”. However, there is a major difference between the two types of bets.

When a player makes a call bet, he/she does not need to place money on the table. In some countries, these types of bets are illegal. On the other hand, announced bets do require roulette fans to wager money.

As their name suggests, both called and announced bets are supposed to be placed verbally, so casino mavens do not need to place chips on the table. However, you do not need to visit a brick-and-mortar gambling house in order to place announced bets as some live dealer roulette tables offer this option.

To place such bets in a live dealer casino, you will need to use a betting section called a racetrack. We will dwell on that feature later in this article. Now we would like to cast some light on the announced bets, that include:

• Voisins du Zero – this bet covers 17 numbers. Translated from French it means “Neighbours of Zero”. Quite logically, the bet covers 17 numbers, including 22, 18, 29, 7, 28, 12, 35, 3, 26, 0, 32, 15, 19, 4, 21, 2, 25, and the player places 9 wagers. The bet is made out of 2 corner bets (2 chips per bet) and 7 straight bets (1 chip per bet). The odds of winning are 45.9% per spin.
• Jeu Zero – this bet covers the zero pocket, its neighbouring 2 pockets to the left, and 4 pockets to the right. To make things easier, the numbers that one covers with this bet are 0, 12, 35, 3, 26, 0, 32, 15. A player needs to place 4 chips in total (1 on each of the three splits and one more on the straight).
• Tiers du Cylindre – this bet covers 12 numbers including 33, 16, 24, 5, 10, 23, 8, 30, 11, 36, 13, 27. These numbers lie on the opposite side of the zero pocket on the wheel. The bet requires at least 6 chips (1 chip on each of the following splits: 5/8, 10/11, 13/16, 23/24, 27/30, and 33/36).
• Orphelins – this bet covers 8 numbers, and more precisely 17, 34, 6, 1, 20, 14, 31, and 9. These numbers are exactly the ones that are not included in the tiers and voisins sections of the wheel. The bet consists of four splits and one straight and a player needs to put a minimum of 5 chips.
• Neighbours – it is a wager on 5 or more neighbouring numbers (but no more than 8) in total. The player chooses a particular number on the wheel and places a bet on that number and its other neighbouring numbers on each side.
• Final Bets – this is a 4-chip bet that covers 4 numbers ending in a particular digit selected by the player. For example, Final Four means you bet on 4, 14, 24, and 34. Final Seven requires 3 chips, as the numbers on the wheel that end in 7 are only three.
• Full completes/ maximums – this bet is mostly preferred by high rollers, who want to stack the roulette layout with their chips. To place such a bet a player needs to select a particular number. Full completes is made out of all inside bets, and it usually includes one straight, four splits, one street, four corners, and two six lines.

Betting on Hot/Cold Numbers

Some live dealer roulette tables offer information regarding the numbers that came up more often on the roulette wheel (also known as hot numbers) and the numbers that did not appear for a long time (referred to as cold numbers).

To make life easier, some software providers such as Evolution Gaming display hot and cold numbers, which are marked in red and blue colour, respectively. However, it is important to explain that the outcome of roulette is based on chance and betting on hot/ cold numbers do not improve your chance of winning.

As you can see, there are plenty of betting options in live dealer roulette. The basic betting options, and more precisely most of inside and all outside bets are offered at every live table.

Live Roulette Features

Live dealer games are streamed live from a land-based gambling hall in real time. However, to enable casino fans to play from home, software providers developed a user interface inherent to every live gaming product. Software providers took care to develop a crisp, clear, and easy-to-navigate user interface, where many in-game options are included. The features embedded in the UI vary between software providers, but some of the most common include:

• A chatbox – players can communicate with each other and with the croupier via the chat function.
• Settings – players can adjust the settings of the game the way they would like to. Usually, live casino fans have the following options: hide other players’ chat, auto zoom-in video during every spin, select the video quality, and adjust the volume of the dealer’s voice and the game sound.
• A “Help” button – it provides players with quick information regarding the rules of the game and the betting options. If you are a roulette newbie, you might find this information very useful.
• History – most live dealer roulette tables enable players to keep track of their gaming history. All the information is diligently categorized depending on the date, game, bet, and win/loss.
• Betting Limits – each live table has a minimum and maximum bet that one can place on a single bet. It is usually attached to the top left corner of the UI. To see detailed information about the betting limits and payouts, players need to hover with the mouse over the table limits.
• Betting Layout– it is the place where you can post your bets. Usually, it is positioned at the bottom of the UI and it features the same betting spots as in a brick-and-mortar casino.
• Racetrack – it is used to place call bets during the game. As its name suggests, it resembles a racing circuit. Whenever a racetrack is available, it is positioned next to the main betting area.
• Favourite Bets – this function allows players to save up to a certain number of bets, and hence speed up the pace of the game. You can still place other bets than the ones you saved.
• Statistics – it provides useful information about the winning numbers from the last spins. Based on that information, software providers offer statistics for hot and cold numbers.
• Autoplay – this option allows live dealer roulette fans to place an initial bet and play with it for the coming spins. Players should be informed that they cannot change their bets while the autoplay function is active.
• Multi-tabling – playing in a live dealer casino provides you with the opportunity to play at several roulette tables simultaneously. This option is recommendable for advanced players who want to maximize the amount of money they can win during a play session.
• Mobile Compatibility – most, if not all, live dealer roulette games are available on mobile devices, including iOS/Android smartphones and tablets. 

Top Live Roulette Software Providers

Live dealer casinos use content powered by software providers that gave their consent to the casino operator to offer their gaming products. In other words, it is not the virtual casino that powers the live dealer games in its portfolio. The iGaming industry has multiple reputable software companies that are to be blamed for some first-class live dealer games.

Evolution Gaming

The award-winning software provider brags about its diverse live roulette tables. The brand is known for its devotion to providing fair games to the end customers. Undoubtedly, it is one of the most trustworthy software providers on the market.

Its live roulette tables are well-praised by casino enthusiasts due to the customized interface, native speaking dealer solutions (including over 10 languages), and crisp graphics. In addition to that, players can find roulette tables that offer country-specific features. The company operates under a license issued by the gambling authorities of the UK, Malta, and others.

Immersive Roulette, Live Double Ball Roulette, Mini Live Roulette are the most prominent variations of live roulette developed by Evolution Gaming.

NetEnt

NetEnt is another innovative software company dedicated to providing live dealer products to online casinos. NetEnt live dealer games are streamed live from a studio based in Malta. The software provider’s live dealer roulette tables feature standard European and French table layouts. In addition to that, some tables include the La Partage rule.

The software provider also developed a Live Automatic Roulette with a real wheel, but no dealer.

Microgaming

Microgaming is a reputable software provider, that offers an extensive catalogue of gaming products. All of its games are created with special attention to every detail. The company never made a compromise with quality. To stay on par with its competition, the brand released its live dealer casino in 2006.

What is interesting here is that all play is recorded and it can be retrieved if needed. For the best convenience of players, Microgaming’s live roulette tables are browser-based and these come with HD quality on all modern devices. The company has studios in Canada, the Philippines, and Argentina, where the action takes place.

Ezugi

Ezugi is a relatively new software provider on the iGaming market, but it does not mean that it is less successful. The company was founded in 2012, and since then Ezugi’s main goal was to provide players with perfect live dealer products. Nowadays, the company offers live baccarat, roulette, blackjack, and casino poker.

As for Ezugi’s live roulette tables, we can say that these are fully customized. Many functions such as live chat service, game history, statistics, racetrack, and others are included. Live roulette tables are hosted by English, Spanish, Russian, and Turkish native speaking dealers. A distinctive feature of Ezugi’s live gaming products is that the company included an option that allows players to tip the dealers.

Playtech

Playtech is one of the heavyweights when it comes to gaming solutions. The company was established in 1999 and it worked hard to build its solid reputation. Nowadays, there is hardly any casino maven that has never played a game powered by Playtech.

Playtech can be proud of its extensive live dealer portfolio that comes with unrivaled quality of the stream. The company offers dedicated live roulette tables that are managed by native speaking dealers. Apart from the classic variation of roulette, Playtech offers the so-called Dual Roulette. It allows players to play on two live roulette tables on the same screen.

The players who prefer the French variation of the game should know that Playtech does not offer La Partage. Other live roulette variations developed by Playtech include Prestige Roulette, Speed Roulette, Spread Bet Roulette, and others.

Live Roulette Variants

To pique players’ interest, software providers are not sparing costs to offer something innovative. Even though roulette is the first choice of some players, after playing it for long even its biggest fan will get bored. For that reason, companies offer different variants of the game. Most probably, many of you would think what could be that different in a roulette game, but you will find the answer in the lines below.

Live Roulette House Edge

This extra compartment on the American roulette wheel increases the house edge of the game up to 5.26%, while European Roulette comes with a 2.7% house edge. French Roulette offers the lowest house edge of only 1.35% due to the special La Partage and En Prison rules. Quite logically, players prefer the European or French variant of the game as it is more profitable for them. The house edge comes from the zero pocket(s) on the wheel.

Live Dealer Roulette Strategies

The outcome at live dealer roulette tables depends entirely on chance. In other words, no one can predict in which pocket the ball will land and which will be the winning number. Over the years, people tried to find out a way to beat the casino and the roulette wheel, resulting in the provision of some strategies.

Even though these are considered to be successful by some players, we would like to inform you that such strategies might appear to be quite risky.

Martingale Strategy

The idea behind the Martingale strategy is that players post an even-money bet. Every time the bet loses, they place the same bet and double the wager until they win. For example, if you place one chip on all red numbers you lose, you place two chips on red numbers. If the bet loses again, you place three chips on the same bet.

There is also a reverse Martingale system that advises you to double your wager after every win. Initially, you place a low stake and you keep on playing with the same bet until you win. After that, players need to double the size of their bets for the next spin. If you lose, you start all over again.

D’Alembert Strategy

D’Alembert Strategy can be used only if you place bets on Red/Black, Odd/Even, or High/Low. You should decide what amount you will wager on your first bet and then you increase your bets by one unit after every loss. Consequently, players need to decrease their bets by one unit after every win.

This strategy also has a reverse option under which players should increase their wagers by one unit after every win, and decrease it by one unit after every loss.

Fibonacci Strategy

As its name suggests, this strategy follows a Mathematical sequence invented by Fibonacci where you add the previous two numbers together to give you the next number in the sequence. An example of a Fibonacci sequence looks like this: 1 – 1 – 2 – 3 – 5 – 8 – 13 – 21 – 34 – 55 – 89 – 144 – 233 – 377 – 610.

When playing roulette by using the Fibonacci strategy, you do not need to start with 1 as long as you follow the rule. Once you reach the last numbers on the wheel, you need to move back two numbers in the sequence and place that number. Compared to the Martingale strategy, this one is safer.

In the reverse Fibonacci strategy, you do exactly the opposite – after every win, you move forward following the sequence, and after every loss, you move back two numbers in the sequence.