Play Roulette

The Game of Kings

As every monkey knows, roulette is known as the table game of kings. I am practically royalty with my background after all. So, apart from the serious cache associated with roulette (we all know that class act James Bond 007 loves a spin of the roulette wheel) why has this game, an accidental discovery by French scientist Blaise Pascale, proven to be such a universally loved table game since the 17th century?

The answer of course is that on the surface, roulette is far simpler than many other table games. What could be easier that betting on red or black, and feeling the thrill of watching the pill travelling around the roulette wheel to see where it lands?

And it’s easy to give it a go and keep your risk low. Take our 20p roulette game for example. This is a simple, easy to play variant with civilised betting limits.

Monkey Roulette basics
Pared back to its basic elements, roulette consists of a numbered wheel with either 37 or 38 pockets, a pill or ball and a roulette board, where you place your bets using your gambling chips or in this technical age, simply use the click of a mouse to place your wager.
Just place your bets on the roulette board and the wheel is set in motion with the pill being released in the opposite direction to the wheel. As the wheel slows, so the pill lands in a pocket and the game is won.

As with much in life, like that incident at Oxford (the less said of that the better), the game’s simplicity belies how complex this game can actually be, with different betting strategies making the game as involved as you want it to be.

Some players prefer a long game but equally roulette suits a rapid fire approach which offers a different attraction to a different kind of player. Ultimately it’s roulette’s flexibility that makes it such an enduring hit with gamblers everywhere.

Systems for winning
We all seek the secret to the winning formula (this simian might even have found it) but the main systems in roulette are the famed Martingale, Fibonacci or Labouchere; each with different approaches and all have their fans and detractors. What this monkey does know as master of theory is that you should make your plan and stick to it.

Crack the Roulette Code

American or European roulette?
There are also different variants of the game depending on where you play. Both American and European roulette variant have a wheel with 18 red and 18 black pockets. Try our 3D European Roulette for example, if you want a good looking Old Continent game.

So far so clear, but here the odds change dramatically depending on which fork you take.

On the Continent you can largely expect to find European Roulette. European roulette offers its players a 37 pocket wheel which is numbered 1-36 with a green pocket with the number zero. This version of the game is very popular as it offers an edge to the player rather than the house; the casino’s edge is limited to only 2.70%.

There is also French Roulette. This variant of the game is very similar to the European game but with a different roulette board lay out, wheel lay out and some unique bet calls which sound complex but are just a matter of language- Voisins du Zero and Tiers du Cylindre are far less intimidating than they sound!

The game changer in French roulette is La Partage or dividing rule which is a boon to roulette players as it comes into use when the pill lands on the zero. At this point all even numbers bets only are divided in two, with half of the wager being returned to the player! En Prison is another rule which is similar to La Partage, and again this helps tip the odds in the players favour. If you play the game with the En Prison or La Partage rules then the House’ s edge is reduced to a very attractive 1.35%!

American Roulette, which is very popular in Las Vegas, (I’ve had a few missions there myself), involves playing on a wheel with 38 pockets, in addition to the usual numbers, and zero, there is another pocket with a double zero. While the pay-out potential at 38/1 means that the wins can be huge, the flip side of this gain is that the double zero pocket allows the casinos a rather hefty boost, giving the house an edge of 5.26%. And sadly En Prison and La Partage rules aren’t available in the American game. I say that’s simply not cricket…..

In, Out, Shake it All About

Inside and outside bets
If you’re a novice in the roulette world, then there are ways to keep your play simple which mean that statistically you’re more likely to walk away with a win. This is where you need to decide if you want to play a safer game using outside bets or up the ante and have a crack at pursuing the inside bet route.

An outside bet is a great starting position for a Monkey Roulette learner, these bets are more likely to win but won’t bring you a big pay out. These include placing a wager on a black or red, an odd or even number, a group of numbers like 1-18, or 19-36, a column bet which is a physical line of numbers on the roulette board or a dozen bet which is a group of 12 numbers. Those are all types of “outside bets”.

Inside bets bring a far lower chance of a win but when you’re numbers come in your payout is much larger.
An inside bet can come in a whole host of different bets which include terms such as straight up, split, corner, trio, six line and street! It’s lucky that this monkey is a master at game theory!

Live Video Roulette
The world has moved on from the days where you had to be tuxed up in a physical casino to make a killing on the roulette wheel, (although some of us do wear it well!). These days you can enjoy an atmospheric and professional standard of roulette from your own home thanks to the technology that links your devices to a game straight from a casino floor or a high tech studio where you can enjoy the company and expertise of professional croupiers in real-time game play. With games like Club Roulette or Live Roulette you can benefit from all the extra camera angles and statistics that make for a great game strategy. Try out our selection of Extreme Live Gaming table variants on your phone or desktop and prepare to be amazed at the quality!

Virtual Roulette
For those of you who don’t want to face the charms of a live online roulette game there is feast of virtual roulette where you can place all the same bets as with a land based or live video game and you can hear the sound of the pill moving around the wheel – and have the same betting table – but you can do it all from wherever you choose without having stay in five star luxury in Monte Carlo or Macau. And with cutting edge tech at the heart of the game, you can try your hand at games like 3D European Roulette or French Roulette at the casino.

Let the games commence my chums…..