More and more people can legally enjoy roulette games online.
Whether you enjoy free roulette for entertainment or gamble for high stakes, there are options for you. With competition between the casinos in regulated states, you will find big bonuses and loyalty rewards for players of all bankroll levels. Games are available on your desktop or mobile device.
Thanks to online casinos, you can experience all permutations of the game, including the original European game which contains a single zero and the newer wheel, known as American Roulette. Either way, you can play roulette.
This page has everything you need to enjoy online roulette games safely. You will find an overview of real money roulette games, bonuses and roulette apps below. At the end of the page, a FAQ will answer all your questions.
Head to your local casino and you will need to bet the minimum stakes to enjoy roulette. Stakes go up on weekends, with $5 to $10 on outside bets typically the smallest bets available. Head online, and you can play real money roulette for much smaller stakes. This gives you all the enjoyment (and chance to go on a winning streak) without the risk.
Improvements in network speeds have allowed for a new generation of online roulette games. Live dealer roulette lets you bet on a real game happening in real time, streamed from a studio. You can interact with the dealers and other players, giving this real money roulette option a social component.
The best online casinos offer welcome bonuses and ongoing rewards to roulette players. A 100% deposit matching bonus will get your bankroll off to a great start. Some casinos offer free play for new customers. While this is usually for slots, you can always head to the roulette games with the money you win with the free play.
For players who enjoy roulette regularly, it will pay to compare the loyalty reward programs of online casinos. Those loyalty points, reload bonuses and one-off promotions will make a huge difference to your bankroll over time.
When you first see online casino bonuses, they look similar. Many casinos offer a 100% match on your first deposit — sometimes over multiple deposits in a specified timeframe. The amount matched varies. The biggest welcome bonuses can reach $1,000 or more.
It is important to look at the terms and conditions of bonus deals. There are major differences covering the playthrough requirements, the type of games you can play to redeem your bonus and how long you have to meet your total.
Here is a checklist for roulette players:
Here are some examples of good offers at regulated casinos:
Golden Nugget Casino: This New Jersey / Michigan online casino gives you $10 free if you sign up with bonus code PLAYBONUS. There is also a matched deposit bonus of up to $1,500, plus 200 free slot spins. You can clear the no deposit bonus by wagering it 20x. Roulette is included, with your bets weighted at 25%. The deposit bonus needs to be wagered 10x.
BetMGM Casino: This casino is available in multiple regulated states. It offers an easy $25 no deposit bonus, plus $1,000 matched to your first deposit. Use bonus code PLAYNJFREE to claim these bonuses. You can clear both by playing roulette. The no deposit bonus has a simple 1x wagering requirement with no weightings for table games. The matched welcome offer has a 15x wagering requirement.
You can enjoy roulette for free online. This can be to learn the rules or practice different betting strategies — or simply for entertainment. When you switch over to real money roulette, the spin of the wheel gets a whole lot more exciting. Even at the smallest stakes, having some real money on the line adds interest to your spins.
Advantages of free roulette games:
Advantages of real money roulette games:
Not all roulette games have the same odds. In fact, the house edge of one game can be nearly twice as high as one that looks almost the same.
The difference is in the number of green segments on the wheel. These are the zero and double-zero slots. With a single zero, the game has a house edge of 2.7%; add one more and this shoots up to 5.26%. You will find these marked as European (single zero) and US (double zero) at many casinos. When it comes to the odds, it is always better to choose the European wheel.
You will also find French roulette at some online casinos. This variation uses a European single zero wheel and features an extra benefit. Any time the ball lands in the zero slot, you get a 50% return of stakes placed on 50/50 outcomes. The effect on the house edge depends on what percentage of your bets are on outside chances compared to single numbers and combinations. If you bet only on the 50/50 chances, then the house edge is a tiny 1.35%.
Online casinos let you access their games via apps or websites. The web-based versions will respond automatically to your screen size, allowing for mobile play. If an app is available, you can be sure that the roulette games on it have been optimized for smaller screens.
Before you install a mobile casino app, you need to make sure you are getting the best available bonus. You can do this by following our links to the regulated casinos — and following the app installation instructions from there.
If you are using an iPhone or an iPad, the casino will direct you to the Apple App Store to complete your download. For Android roulette players, you will need to install the app from the casino website. Google does not yet allow real money roulette apps in its store — even though such apps are fully legal in regulated states. Downloading from the casino is safe and easy. You will need to accept the download from an “unknown source” to complete the process.
Apps allow you to claim your bonus, deposit real money and enjoy a range of games in addition to roulette. You will find that slots, blackjack and video poker are popular options.
If you are not in a state with regulated online casinos, then sweepstakes casino apps are a legal alternative. These turn casino games into mini-sweepstakes contests. They remain legal by offering free games and giving you “free” sweepstakes entries (chips for the real casino options) when you make purchases of the play-money chips.
It is now legal to enjoy online casinos in multiple states. There are regulated brands already operating in a number of states including New Jersey and Pennsylvania. In these regulated states, online casino and sports betting giants have partnered with local brick and mortar casinos. They have produced mobile casino apps and websites that use geolocation to work only within state lines.
In turn, the casino brands curate a list of games from software houses like IGT and NetEnt. These include multiple roulette options. Bigger brands set up studios in live casinos. This allows them to provide live dealer casino games.
Below is an overview of the roulette options at online casinos in three of the regulated states.
Sweepstakes contests are legal in nearly every state, often taking the form of marketing promotions like draws and contests. Casinos have been using these laws to offer slots and table games since 2016.
To stay legal, sweepstakes casino bands like Chumba Casino, LuckyLand Slots and Funzpoints can’t sell you chips to gamble with. Instead, they give you them for free — when you buy a different currency that you use for play-money gaming.
You then use the “free” redeemable currency to play games — which are treated as fast sweepstakes contests. If you win while playing with the redeemable currency, you can swap your winnings for real cash prizes and legally withdraw the money to your bank account.
There are big jackpots to be won — though the selection of table games is more limited.
When you choose an online casino, there are many factors besides the bonus deals to compare. They include the types of games, which ones are available on your phone, whether the casino has live dealer options and the legal status of each brand.
This list expands on some of those key factors to consider:
You can now re-create the feeling of playing roulette in a brick and mortar casino online. Live dealer casino games are hugely popular. They work by streaming a view of a real roulette table in real time to casino websites and apps. You can verify that the action is live by interacting with the croupier and other players via text chat. Dealers will reply verbally, as they are busy spinning the ball or dealing cards.
A key factor for live dealer roulette is that the games are timed. You bet by dragging and dropping chips onto an overlay of the roulette betting surface. When “no more bets” is called, the ball is spun and winning bets are automatically settled. You can “rebet” or switch numbers each time. If you miss the deadline, the ball spins without your wagers.
In addition to games with a dealer, live dealer casinos often feature auto-roulette. This is a real physical wheel that spins automatically at set intervals.
Roulette has an inherent house advantage of 5.26%. This means that if one bets $100 anywhere on the felt, the player’s expected return is $94.74.
Hold percentage is naturally higher than house advantage. This is because players do not have the bankroll or time to beat the casino in the long run.
Furthermore, roulette affords opportunities to win many multiples of one’s wager, like three, eight, or up to 35 times players’ initial wager. But players can also lose those profits quickly. While other table games have specific wagers manufactured within them that are (in terms of expected value) worse for the player, roulette is generally known by the gambling community to be one of the less friendly games to gambling bankrolls.
A very key point is that every possible wager is equally disadvantageous to the player. A $10 bet on 00 or RED or EVEN would carry the same negative expected value of -$0.526 (fifty-two point six cents).
Before jumping into the concepts of the gambler’s fallacy, independent events, and mutual exclusivity, it helps to establish a clear thesis that the only way to (legally) affect the casino’s advantage is to play only old-fashioned European Roulette. (It has only one green zero on the felt.)
A fair motto might be the fewer zeros, the better. The standard roulette wheel today, sometimes differentiated as American Roulette, features a zero and double zero. If there are 38 numbers on the felt, but a wager on exactly the correct number pays 35-1, the casino has a 5.26% house advantage on the game.
It’s a little simple math — don’t be alarmed:
You can see how on a single roulette wheel, the house advantage is 2.7%. On the unfortunate Sands Roulette, it’s 7.7 %. Conclusion: don’t play triple zero roulette.
It’s important for gamblers to understand that each roulette spin is an independent event. That means previous spins do not impact the odds or probability going forward. There are 38 possible outcomes on a typical double zero roulette game. Eighteen are red, 18 black, and two are green.
There is an 18/38, or about a 47.4%, chance the ball will land on a red or black number. What is the probability that the ball will land on a red number if the past 10 spins landed on red? What if the last 12 spins were black? It’s always 47.4 %, independent from any past or future spins.
This author, his host, and sponsors clearly and absolutely decry any form of cheating. That said, it would be unfair to ignore in a historical context how players have gained an edge by recording wheel bias.
Ultimately, roulette wheels are man-made. While today’s wheels are manufactured with computer precision, in a past era, the most astute gambler may have been able to record and exploit some of the smallest biases in wheel imperfections.
A large element of the “best” site comes down to personal preference. There are some significant factors aside from the software, games and deposit options that separate online casinos. Bonuses (including ongoing promotions) can be a big factor, alongside the app and service. A popular pick in multiple regulated states is DraftKings Casino. This brand has multiple roulette options like live dealer games, basketball roulette and pro wheels with enhanced graphics.
If you can find a site with French roulette, this should be your go-to game. This variant uses a European wheel with a single green zero. If you hit that zero, then you get half of your stake back for any 50% (black/red or odd/even). Some variants of French roulette keep your bet in place for another spin instead. The odds of online roulette are as follows:
Some live casinos are now introducing games with a “triple zero.” This offers terrible odds and should be avoided whenever possible.
Many systems claim to be able to beat roulette games. They use progressive betting, often alongside complex patterns. While these can reduce variance in the short-term, they cannot beat the house edge over time. Casinos would not offer a game that was beatable.
You can enjoy bonus money and promotions while playing roulette, which can put the odds of winning in your favor for a while. Over time, the house edge is baked into this game. Play for entertainment and enjoy the wins whenever they come.
A great reason to stick to the regulated/legal casinos is that you can be sure that the outcome of wheel spins is fair. This is controlled by random number generator software — which is regularly audited as part of the licensing requirement in all states with legal gambling.
Games like roulette are tested over millions of spins to ensure that the outcome is random.