Play Roulette Online

Regarding an authentic casino experience, few games can match roulette for fun and tradition. In the olden days, you had to go to a big casino to play this classic game. These days, plenty of online casinos offer you different variants of roulette, both virtual and live.

Finding a safe online casino with the best roulette games in South Africa is not easy. That is where we come in – we have created a complete guide to online roulette for South African players. On this page, you will find the following things:

• The best online roulette casinos

• History of roulette

• Basic rules of roulette

• Introduction to roulette bets and strategies

• Popular roulette variants, and more.

If you are in a tearing hurry to watch those spinning wheels with red and black numbers, we have an updated list of the best online gambling sites to play roulette in South Africa.

Here at PCSA, we have a team of veteran online gamblers and industry specialists with decades of experience in the online casino world. Leveraging their inside knowledge, we thoroughly review all South African online casinos with roulette to pick the best ones. Our team uses the following hallmarks to identify a reputable online casino.

• Valid Gambling License – If you want guaranteed peace of mind, always play at fully licensed online casinos. We look for sites approved by reputed (and strict) bodies like the Malta Gaming Authority and the UK Gambling Commission. You can rest assured that most licensed casinos are safe and trustworthy.

• A Solid Game Catalog – table games like roulette don’t get a fair representation at many online casinos, especially those with fewer providers. We prefer larger online casinos that stock games from dozens of software providers. It ensures you have a decent selection of roulette variants to keep you occupied for longer.

• Rand Payments Accepted – money is a necessity if you want to place bets online on roulette or any other casino game. If you are a South African resident, you should always look for casinos that accept deposits and withdrawals in Rands. This way, you can avoid the currency conversion fees the banks/payment services charge for switching from ZAR to USD or EUR.

• Quick and Secure Payments – apart from local currency support, we also look for a comprehensive selection of online payment methods. For maximum convenience, a South African online casino should have credit cards, online banking, e-wallets, and cryptocurrencies for deposits and withdrawals.

• A Good Reputation – we only select casinos that promise fair play and customer safety. If a website has a poor track record – with a history of player complaints and delayed or stalled payments – we automatically exclude it from our shortlist.

A Brief History of Roulette

Unlike many other gambling games, roulette is relatively new – it was only created in the 1700s in France. The game design is a hybrid between a gaming wheel and the Italian board game called Biribi. Its origin story is quite interesting indeed.

The French inventor Blaise Pascal, Dominican Monks, and the Chinese have all been credited for creating the modern roulette game. However, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica, roulette was gradually derived from older gambling games in France, with names like Hoca and Potique.

The modern name – “little wheel” – was first mentioned in Bordeaux in 1716. By 1790, it was the leading game in French casinos, quickly gaining popularity across European nations. The game attained cult status in Monte Carlo, Monaco's most famous gambling resort, in the 1830s.

After a century of prohibition, the game steadily increased in popularity across Europe and America. Regional variants also arose, with American and French Roulette being particularly famous. Now, with the rise of online casinos, we even have virtual games of roulette!

How to Play Roulette Online

Online casino gaming requires a compatible computer/laptop/mobile device, internet access, a working email ID, and a mobile number. Further, you must create a player account at the casino if you want to play real money roulette. This is a simple process with the following key steps:

1. Pick any trusted South African online casino from our shortlist

2. Click on the link provided to visit the casino website

3. Select the "Sign Up", "Join Now," or "Register" options on the landing page

4. Fill up the registration forms with some personal information and contact details

5. Accept the casino terms and conditions on the form provided

6. Sign in to your account and go to the deposits section to add some funds

7. You can also claim a welcome bonus at this point – check the casino promotions page for details

8. As soon as your deposit goes through, you can start playing roulette games

9. To do this, head to the “Table Games” section of the Casino

10. Pick any game from the Roulette category and click to start playing for real money!

How to Play Free Roulette Online

Free play is the perfect option for beginners at an online casino. In this mode, you will place bets on the game using in-game virtual coins. With each wager, a specific amount is deducted from your casino balance in regular play. If you lose the bet, that money goes to the casino.

In free play, there is no such risk to your finances. You can play without worry and learn the rules and game strategies at your leisure. There is one minor catch – since you place bets using fake money, you will also get paid in fake money (virtual coins with no value) if you win!

To play roulette for free online, follow these simple steps:

1. Visit any online casino from our list – no need to sign up

2. Just go straight to the Table Games area of the casino and pick Roulette games

3. To play any game for free, hover your mouse pointer over the game icon – it will reveal the “Fun Play” or “Free Play” option.

4. Select it to play the game for free online

5. On mobile devices, you can tap the game icon once to reveal the option

6. Play unlimited rounds of roulette until you learn all the basics!

Roulette Online Rules

The online version of roulette is a largely faithful representation of the game played in Vegas or Monte Carlo casinos. This game has a simple basic premise – you play roulette on a table with a rotating wheel. The wheel has the numbers 1 to 36 in alternating colours of red and black.

You play by placing a bet on any number or colour. The roulette wheel is spun after the bets, and a small ball is launched onto the wheel. Once the rotation stops, the ball will randomly drop on a number. If it matches your bet, you win!

A croupier will launch the ball onto the spinning wheel in offline and live online roulette. Here, the outcome is determined by random factors like the speed of the spinning wheel and ball physics. However, in online virtual roulette, everything is based on RNG – random numbers generated by a computer program.

While the main numbers stay the same across roulette tables – 1 to 36 – the number of zeros on a wheel can vary depending on the regional variants like American Roulette and French Roulette. Regardless, the basic betting options remain the same in online roulette.

Betting Options in Roulette

You have a broad choice of betting options in roulette. These are classified into three main categories – inside bets, outside bets, and announced bets. In a roulette game, these bets all have different odds and, thus, varying payouts. So learning as much as possible about roulette bets online is important.

Inside Bets

If you place any bet on a number on the roulette wheel, it is called an inside bet. These bets have higher payouts than the other categories of roulette bets. The best inside bet is a "straight-up bet" – where you bet on a single number on the wheel. This is also the roulette bet with the highest possible payout ratio in the game – 35:1. Here is a quick look at all the inside bets:

• Straight – S bet on any single number – Payout of 35:1

• Split – S bet on two numbers that lie next to each other on the wheel – Payout of 17:1

• Street – Similar to a split bet, but extended to 3 consecutive numbers on the wheel – Payout of 11:1

• Corner – Any bet on four consecutive numbers on the wheel – Payout of 8:1.

• Six Line – The largest bet, placed on two street bets next to each other – Payout of 5:1.

Outside Bets

These are even easier to understand. Instead of betting on individual numbers, you can bet on a series of numbers. Outside bets are based on the following options:

• Red or Black – Bet on the ball landing on a number of either colour

• Odd or Even – Bet on landing an even number or odd number

• High or Low – Bet on numbers between 1-18 (low) or 19-36 36 (high)

Since outside bets cover a spread of numbers, your odds of winning also increase significantly. At the same time, the payouts are also shortened, giving you a ratio of 1:1 on the three bets mentioned above.

Announced Bets

These are a special category of bets only found in French and European roulette variants. There are three popular options:

• Voisins du Zero – Meaning “neighbours of zero”, you bet on a point spread that stretches on either side of zero on the wheel, up to 9 places in each direction.

• Tiers du Cylindre – Meaning “a third of the wheel”; it covers one-third of the roulette wheel using six different splits.

• Orphelians – The orphans are another bet that covers a single number and five different splits.

Popular Roulette Strategies

Roulette is a pure game of chance – you cannot do anything to affect the game's outcome. However, plenty of unique and interesting roulette betting strategies are out there, some of which are based on popular math series.

Martingale System

This highly aggressive roulette betting strategy is not at all suited for newcomers. In the Martingale system, you have to double your stake each time you lose. The logic is this: even if you lose a lot of early rounds, the huge payout will make it worthwhile when you finally win.

The obvious downside of the Martingale system is that it can get very expensive if you get on a sustained losing streak. You need a huge bankroll when you play with Martingale. It is not a good strategy if you are a beginner or on a strict budget.

Reverse Martingale System

This strategy is like the mirror image of the basic Martingale system. Instead of doubling down on your bets on a loss, you will double down only when you win. The advantage here is a smaller hit to your bankroll during a losing streak.

On the other hand, this is a very conservative strategy that will only pay dividends in the long term. You must get a sustained winning streak to make a good pile of cash. Reverse Martingale might be a good option if you are a more defensive and cautious player.

The D’Alembert Roulette System

If doubling down at any point seems like a rash strategy, the D’Alembert system is perhaps a better option for you. Instead of drastically increasing your bets, you opt for a more gradual approach in this system. It is one of the safest betting systems out there for roulette.

Start your bet with a single unit – say $1. If you win, you stick with the same wager, just like in the classic Martingale system. But if you lose, you add plus one to your wager – so $1 becomes $2, then $3, $4 and so on.

This results in a flatter curve progression on your betting sizes. You can hopefully play for longer, even in a sustained losing streak. To have a good D'Alembert system, you should divide your bankroll into small equal units.

Paroli Betting System

If you want a careful approach to doubling down on wins, the Paroli system may pique your interest. In Martingale, you throw caution to the wind and keep doubling down on your losses. In Paroli, you double down on wins, but not indefinitely.

Instead, you keep doubling down on each consecutive win until you hit 3 rounds of wins. At that point, you reset your wager and start fresh. Here is what a standard Paroli betting sequence would look like –

Start by wagering R1 in round 1. If you win, the next bet is R2 in your second round. If you win, increase your wager to R4 in the third round. Whether you win or lose, you reset the wager in round four to R1.

This way you can get some decent wins from streaks while protecting your bankroll during a losing streak. Like many other roulette betting strategies, the Paroli system works well on even bets.

Roulette is a fast-paced game where you can either make a fortune, break even or lose a fortune in a matter of minutes or hours. With many different types of bets and roulette strategies, it is normal for beginners to feel overwhelmed.

Real-money roulette is never a good idea if you don't know what you are doing. You could lose a lot of money if you are not careful. Free online roulette is the recommended option because it is risk-free. The differences between the two modes are broadly outlined in the table below:

Roulette Online Bonuses

At most online casinos, bonuses are geared heavily towards online slots. Casinos often highly discourage bonus play on table games – including roulette. The reason is simple: casinos enjoy a better house edge on slots, anywhere from 3% to 8%.

In some roulette titles like French Roulette, the house edge is a minuscule 1.35% on even money bets. Experienced players have a chance to win more often with roulette games. When playing with bonuses, this means the casino stands a chance to lose more money. So they don't like players using bonuses on online roulette!

Still, you can play roulette with welcome and deposit bonuses at the top South African online casinos. Just keep in mind that all bonuses come with wagering requirements. And table games/roulette contribute a very small percentage of bets toward this requirement – often less than 10%.

Playing Online Roulette on Mobile

You can play all online versions of roulette, including live roulette, on your mobile phone in South Africa. And you don't necessarily need the latest iPhone or Android flagship from Samsung to make that happen. Online casino roulette is compatible with iOS and Android phones across all budgets – even phones launched 5 years ago can play the game comfortably.

The best South African casinos online are all based on HTML5, which enables websites to run flawlessly on multiple software/hardware combinations. All you need is a mobile browser like Chrome or Safari to get started, along with a decent internet connection – WiFi or 4G is recommended for best results.

Please create an account on any of our recommended South African roulette casinos, and you are all set. You can even enjoy free play roulette on mobile just by visiting one of these sites on your smartphone. Place deposits, claim bonuses, and easily win money on roulette mobile!

Book recommendations for online roulette:

• https://books.google.co.za/books?id=oQFt4txxrKsC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

• https://books.google.co.za/books?id=g0GhJJgT58kC&source=ttb&redir_esc=y