Roulette is one of the most popular games at land casinos and many online casino players also fancy a few spins of the wheel. This article provides some tips to new players wanting to wager on online roulette.

There are three basic variants of online roulette – American Roulette, European Roulette and French Roulette. The first tip is about choosing from these variants. American Roulette has 0 and 00 on the wheel and most bets lose when any of these numbers are called. American Roulette has an average return of 94.75% on all bets. European Roulette has only 0 on the wheel and most bets lose when it is called. European Roulette has an average return of 97.30% on all bets. American Roulette does not offer any other advantage and therefore this online roulette variant should be avoided. French Roulette follows the European Roulette wheel. But it offers a rule known as La Partage, which means sharing. Half the amounts on even money bets are returned to the players if 0 is called. French Roulette has a visual disadvantage. The numbers on the betting layout are not differentiated into red or black. Therefore if you are not going to wager on even money bets then go for European Roulette, otherwise go for French Roulette.

Online roulette offers a number of bets covering from a single number to a set of 18 numbers. The second tip discusses how to select bets that are suited to your wagering objective, taking European Roulette as an example. All bets in European Roulette have the same average return and that cannot be a criterion for selecting bets. The probability of winning and the payout ratios are the relevant criteria. Bets on 18 numbers like red and black will win marginally less than half the times and will pay out 1 to 1. Bets on single numbers will win once in 37 spins on an average and will pay out 35 to 1. Conservative players should opt for the lower payout bets. They will not win much when they win, but are less likely to lose. Risk taking players who are interested only in big wins should go for the larger payout bets. They will win less often, but when they win it will be a big one. Because multiple bets are allowed in online roulette, you can calibrate your risk-return requirement fairly accurately. A good option to start with is one chip each on an even money bet and on a single number bet.