Discovering the Variants of Online Roulette

There’s nothing quite like the thrill of playing roulette at a casino, placing your bets and eagerly waiting for the ball to land in the right pocket. However, not all of us have the time or opportunity to visit a land-based casino and savor this experience, so often, playing roulette online is the next best thing. Let’s take a glance at what we might expect to find when playing online.

Traditional roulette games

At the vast majority of online casino sites offering table games, the two main traditional roulette variants are usually available to play. These are European and American roulette, both with their subtle differences that most regular players of the game will already be familiar with.

European roulette tends to be the most common and popular, featuring just the single zero on the wheel and a 2.7% house edge, compared to the additional double zero and 5.2% house edge of the American version. Both versions feature a table layout with numbers from 1 to 36, with the options to cover bet along the first, second and third 12 numbers; odd or even; red or black; 1 to 18 or 19 to 36; or one of three lines of numbers.

Thanks to improvements in streaming technology, some online casinos offer live roulette games, using real tables and croupiers. This is perhaps the next best thing to experiencing how the game is played at a land-based casino, without the need to travel. The physical dynamics of an authentic roulette table are also different to those of online roulette games, which tend to use random number generator algorithms.

Themed online roulette games

Along with the more traditional roulette games we’ve already mentioned above, online casinos are known for offering a wider variety of alternative games based around roulette. While most of them are very similar to European or American roulette at heart, the key difference is they’re often themed around popular TV shows and movies, typically with additional playing features such as bonus mini games that can be triggered.

Following on from the popularity of progressive jackpots in branded slots games such as Mega Moolah by Microgaming, which is notable for having produced multiple millionaire winners over recent years, the same concept has now been applied to a number of online roulette games. One example is the Superman Roulette game based on the 1978 movie with Christopher Reeve, which currently features amongst the Buzz Bingo selection of casino table games with a different spin.

Developed by Playtech as part of a film and TV content deal with Warner Brothers and connected to the DC Superheroes progressive jackpot network, Superman Roulette features an additional bonus round screen that can be triggered during play. This bonus game provides players with the opportunity to win anything up to 726 times their original stake, revealing the prizes available behind the iconic Superman logo. There’s also the chance to have a crack at the Grand Jackpot, which is regularly over £1 million.

Another themed variant found at many online casinos is Diamond Bet Roulette, which is a little more akin to the American game. The key difference here is that instead of a double zero, there’s a diamond pocket instead. In addition, there’s an outer wheel with multipliers and a jackpot, so if the ball lands in the diamond pocket and you’ve placed chips on the diamond logo, you could win up to 50x your stake, or even the jackpot itself.

Trying games out

Many of the leading online casinos offer the opportunity to have a dry run of their roulette games before wagering any cash. These alternative versions of roulette games featuring virtual cash can be helpful if you’re new to playing roulette or haven’t played for a while, giving you the opportunity to familiarize yourself with the table layout and game style. It’s very useful to try these on-the-go games first because as the saying goes: practice makes perfect!

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