Ultimate Online Roulette Guide For South Africans 2024
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Online roulette is a digital version of the casino classic, the roulette South Africa. There are different types of roulette with different house edges, more than a dozen bets you can place on the board, and a couple of major strategies of winning that you may want to get to know before you start playing. Knowing your chances is crucial for a good game.
This article discusses just that. Keep on reading, or skip to the chapter you are interested in to learn more.
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A brief synopsis of roulette History
There are dozens of roulette table patents, but the originator of the game is not known. The most probable theory tells us that the invention of the game that was going to become one of the main components of a casino was inspired by an Italian lotto-like game at the beginning of the 18th century. It used a wheel to determine a winning number as well.
It is unknown who was the first person to come up with roulette, but it quickly spread across casinos in France. First reports of roulette tables in casinos appear as early as 1758. By the end of the century, roulette was apparently common, as it began being mentioned in fiction. It is quite ironic that the type of roulette we now call American was originally French. It has two house slots, zero and double zero. Earlier versions also had a symbol of an eagle as a slot to symbolize American liberty. That soon disappeared.
What’s called European roulette, the kind with only one zero was developed in Germany as a way to decrease the house edge and compete against other casinos. The thing this is if the ball hits zero or double zero, all bets on the table lose, except for bets on zero. It’s only natural that people were more keen on playing the version of roulette with only one zero.
Starting from the 1970s casinos began spreading worldwide. The double zero type is predominant in U.S., Canada, and the Caribbean. South Africa’s online roulette follows the American type as well. European roulette is preferred in most other places.
Now you can enjoy online roulette from any place on the planet. You don’t have to rely on what type of roulette your local casino chooses. Pick your own rules and get down to playing.
Best Roulette Games
How to play online roulette
Online roulette may look simple to an outsider. However, if you have never played roulette online before, you may need to know a couple of important things about it to play well.
Read this chapter to get to know all types of bets you can make, and which ones you should make.
Roulette Board
The roulette board is a layout of all numbers that appear on the wheel in the numerical order. With three columns and 12 rows, this layout leaves quite a lot of opportunities for placing bets.
In online roulette, you can place bets on a single number, on two adjacent numbers, either vertically or horizontally, on a row, on four or six adjacent numbers, and on dozens. If you are feeling extra lucky, you can place your bet on zero to win when everybody else loses.
Outside of the layout of numbers, there are positions for bets that pay 1 to 1. You can bet on the color of the number, whether it’s even or odd, or to which half of the numbers it belongs to.
In most land-based casinos, you have to either place your bet yourself or call it. When you call it, a croupier places the bet for you. In some places you can bet electronically, using a touchscreen. In online roulette, you place your bets yourself, unless you are playing live roulette.
Roulette Wheel
A roulette wheel is a physical random number generator. It is a spinning device with a handle to spin it and 37 or 38 numbered slots. American roulette has a double zero, so it has 38 slots on it, lowering the chances of hitting each slot.
The way the numbers are positioned seems random, but from what can be inferred, it seems that the idea behind it is to ensure that as few numbers that belong to the same large group of bets appear together as possible. It fails to do that, but it may be the most practical way of pursuing that goal.
However, it doesn’t affect the randomness of online roulette one bit. The roulette wheel would be just as effective as right now if the numbers were ordinally placed.
The odds are, this placement is just a psychological trick to underpin the whole idea of randomness, or is done for artistic purposes.
Since the neighboring numbers on the wheel do not quite neighbor on the board, this makes an opportunity for another type of bets, roulette wheel section bets.
Inside roulette bets
Inside roulette bets are placed on the numbers on a roulette board. They pay more but are harder to hit. Here are your options when it comes to inside bets in online roulette.
Please note that 2-1 payout means you get your original bet back and two more units. It effectively triples, not doubles, your bet. The same goes for all the other payouts. If you win with a 35-1 payout, you receive 36 times your bet.
The chances of winning refer to European roulette. For the American variant, the chances are a bit lower because of the double zero.
A straight bet is a bet that is placed on one number only. It pays 35-1 and is the highest paying bet in online roulette. It is also the only bet you are allowed to place on zero. The chance of hitting a single number in European roulette is 2.70%.
Split bet covers two numbers that are close to each other on the board either horizontally or vertically. It pays twice as little, only 17-1, but the chance of hitting it is twice as big, 5.41%.
Street is a bet you place on 3 numbers in a row, for example, 1,2, and 3. It pays 11-1 with an 8.11% chance to win.
Square bet in online roulette can be placed on the crossing of the lines where four numbers meet. It pays 8-1 and your chances of winning are 10.81%.
Six line is the lowest paying bet in this category, it only gives you a 5-1 payout. However, you can hit it with a probability of 16.22%, which is significantly better than the rest. As you may guess from the name, this bet is placed on 6 consecutive numbers that are in a line, like from 4 to 9.
Outside roulette bets
Outside bets pay lower, but you have bigger chances of winning. They are placed outside of the matrix with numbers and involve betting on larger groups of slots. Here is what you can bet on.
Dozen refers to a group of 12 consecutive numbers. You can’t pick a line here, and can only bet on 1-12, 13-24 or 25-36. The payout is 2-1, the chance of winning is 32.43%.
Column bet is placed on 12 numbers that are in the same column. The odds are the same as with the dozen bet.
High / Low bet, also known as Manque/Passe, is a bet you place on half of the numbers. High numbers are 1-18, low ones are 19-36. You only get a 1-1 payout on this bet, but the probability of winning in this online roulette bet is 48.65%.
Odd / Even bet is an attempt at guessing will the number be odd or even. Since it splits the numbers in half, the chances to win are the same as with high/low bet. Just as with the other bets, if it’s zero, you lose your bet.
Color bet splits the table according to the color of the slot. Bet red or black, and you’ll get twice your original bet with a 48.65% chance.
Snake bet is less known than the other dozen bets, dozen, and column, and some online roulettes may not support it. It’s a bet that goes as a zig-zag across the board from 1 to 34. It is marked by placing your chips on the corner of 34.
Roulette section bets
These bets are placed according to the numbers as they appear on the wheel, not on the board. There are call bets, as you can’t put the chips yourself. In online roulette, that is done for you automatically
Roulette section bets come from the French tradition, so many of the bet names are French. Since the position of numbers is entirely different in American style roulette, you only have these bets in European online roulette.
Here is what you can bet on:
Neighbour bets are placed on five numbers that stand close to each other on the wheel. An example is 15, 19, 4, 21, 2. What you do when you place this bet is placed 5 straight bets on the table, each on one of the neighboring numbers. There is no single payout. If one number wins, all the others lose.
Jeu zero, or zero spiel is a section bet placed on the numbers around zero on the board. Unlike with neighbor bet, there are 7 numbers in the classic zero spiel: 12,35,3,26,0,32,15. You need 4 chips to make this bet. One is placed on 0-3, the other on 12-15, the third one on 32-35. These will pay 18-1. The last is a straight bet on 26 and pays 35-1.
Voisins du zero, neighbors of zero, is a bit misleading. It actually is a set of split bets on 17 numbers that surround zero. You need 9 chips to make this bet. The payouts differ, but in the lowest paying scenario, you get all the chips back.
Orphelines is a bet placed on 8 numbers on the different sides of the roulette wheel. You need five chips for it to make 4 split and one straight bet. If you land either of them, you receive at least 14 times your original bet.
Tiers du cylindre is a 6 chip bet placed on 12 numbers opposite zero a series of splits.
Small Series or Series 5 /8 is a variation of tiers du cylindre, but smaller. It is particularly popular in online roulette for South Africans. What you do here is you place a bet on four out of 12 numbers that are included in the tiers du cylindre, 5, 8, 10, and 11.
Final bet
Final bets are placed on all slots ending in a particular number. For instance, final 3 is placed on 3, 13, 23, and 33. Final 7, 8, and 9 cost three chips, while all the rest cost 4. In some casinos, you can make a final 5-8 bet as a series of splits on 5-8, 15-18, 25-28 and a straight bet on 35.
Maximum bet
A maximum bet is placed on all inside bets of a certain number. All splits, streets, squares, and six lines are bet on progressively. You need a whole 40 chips for this bet, so this is a variant for high-rollers.
Roulette game tactics and tricks for beginners
Now that you know your possibilities in the game of roulette, it is time to learn more advanced information about it. Whether you play roulette for fun, or to win big, knowing this will increase your chances of winning.
Online roulette types and rules
European roulette was invented in Germany and spread around the world pretty fast. It has the numbers placed a bit differently around the wheel, but that doesn’t influence the randomness, only the placement of the wheel section bets.
American roulette that is popular in South Africa has a second zero. It changes the game entirely, as it effectively doubles the house edge and lowers return to player. The payouts, however, stay the same. Always choose European roulette if possible, as it increases your chances to win.
Mini roulette is one the popular free online roulette games that South African players enjoy. The change is that there are only 12 numbers and zero, that’s why it is called mini. Straight bets pay 11 to 1, and the chances to hit a number are significantly higher than in the original version. Still, the RTP is lower than in the European version, making it the best roulette so far.
3D roulette refers to the visual component rather than to the type of game itself. In a 3D roulette, you can enjoy the stunning animation of the spinning wheel to have more fun playing it.
Live roulette is the type you should try if you want to play roulette online with the same kind of experience as in the land-based casino. An attractive croupier is there to take your bets and announce the winnings in a real-time video chat. It may cost you a bit more, but the experience is worth it.
Pro tip: if you have the opportunity to choose rules, go for “la partage.” If that rule is enabled, you only lose half an even money bet if zero is hit. It increases RTP dramatically.
Odds in online roulette
Roulette is a game of chance. The chances were calculated a long time ago. Knowing them means being informed about what you can expect from the game.
The house edge. Every time zero is hit, all the other bets are removed from the table, except the ones placed on zero. This means all even money bets have a winning chance of less than 50%. In European roulette, the edge is 2.7%.
In the American variant, it is almost double that, 5.26%. This is because it has two house positions, zero and double zero.
Even money bets. Players can bet on outside positions that split the board in half, either by color, by their being odd or even, or by being in the first or the last half. This means you’d have a 50% chance to win if not for the house edge.
With the house edge counted, you have a 48.65% chance to win in European roulette, and 46.37% in the American variant.
Dozens dozen numbers. In European roulette, you will get that combination with a 32.43% chance, or a 31.58% chance in American roulette.
Inside bets odds. You can hit a single number with a probability of 2.7% in European roulette. It is lower in American roulette, 2.63%. The odds grow with the number of slots you bet on. The largest possibility to win with an inside bet is 16.22% or 13.16% in American roulette for a six line bet.
Online Roulette Strategies
Roulette is a game of chance, and many mathematicians and enthusiasts tried to beat it using science. Here are the most popular strategies to win in a roulette game.
Exploiting roulette flaws
A famous saying reads the only way to win at a roulette table is to steal the money. This method is not as radical but is generally frowned upon by the casino owners.
Many legendary wins were made by people who saw the opportunity to exploit the flaws in casino machines and predict what slot is the ball most likely to hit.
Teams of mathematicians or people with special software were looking for roulettes that were old or installed in a wrong way. This led to flaws in the random number generation, and with the proper knowledge, you could guess what the outcome of the spin is going to be.
Unfortunately, that could only work in land-based casinos. In online casinos, you can’t trick a casino this way, as it works on a digital random number generator. While theoretically, it is possible to hack a casino to exploit its cybersecurity flaws, it won’t be considered legal, and you probably won’t get your winnings.
Martingale strategy
This strategy was popular since the 18th century and can be applied to many games apart from roulette. In its essence, it states that in a game with even odds you have to double your bet each time you lose. The win would cover all the previous losses and turn a profit.
The problem with Martingale is that the chances to win an even money bet are not 50%, they’re less due to the house edge. This means you lose more than you win. The other problem is that if you start with a big bet, you stand a chance of losing all the money rather soon.
Still, it can help you keep RTP high if you don’t bet more than you can afford.
Reverse Martingale
The idea behind reverse Martingale is to profit from the winning streaks and save money when you are loosing. So you should increase your bet when you win, and lower it when you lose.
This strategy is objectively worse than the Martingale with all of its flaws. In Martingale you at least have the option of recovering all of your money. Here, you don’t.
The Fibonacci strategy
It is a variation of Martingale strategy, with the next bet being a sum of the two previous ones. It has the same flaws that the Martingale, as you may find yourself bankrupt if you don’t win.
Multi-chip betting patterns
One of the best ways to increase your chances of winning at an online casino is to bet multiple chips on different numbers across the board to cover most of them and have a small return even in the worst scenario.
Many patterns work that way. The main idea is to bet the number of chips that you could get back if you win the lowest paying bet. For instance, betting two chips on two six lines, one chip on two squares and making a straight bet is one of them.
The most known wagers of this sort are roulette sector bets. For instance, voisins du zero covers 17 numbers with 9 chips. It is mostly splits, so you have almost 50% of winning 18 to 1 while losing 8 chips. This makes your total win 10 chips.
Roulette Glossary
Color bet – an even money bet you place on the color of the number.
Column bet – a dozen bet that is placed on 12 numbers in a column.
Corner bet – an inside bet placed on the corner of four numbers.
Dozen bet – an outside bet placed on one of the three dozens in the game.
Even money – a bet that has equal odds of winnings. Technically outside bets in roulette are not really even money because of the house edge, but they’re still called that.
High/Low – an equal money bet placed on the position of a number in the first or the last half.
Inside bet – a bet placed on the inside of the online roulette board.
Line bet – a bet placed on a row of numbers, also known as street.
Odd/even bet – an even money bet placed on the number being odd or even.
Outside bet – a bet placed on one of the bigger groupings of numbers. This covers dozen bets and even money bets.
Racetrack – in online roulette, racetrack is a type of the board that allows you to place bets on the numbers as they appear on the roulette wheel.
Row bet – a term that comes from American online roulette, row bet means you place a bet on both zeros.
Split bet – a bet that is placed on two adjacent numbers.
Straight bet – the highest paying bet in online roulette. It is placed on a single number.
Roulette FAQ
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Can I win real money in online roulette?
- While online roulette is a negative expectation game, you can certainly win money playing it. Make sure to follow the best strategies and choose the rules that take your chances of winning higher, and you are one step closer to winning.
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Are online roulette winnings taxable?
- Not really. If you win at a land-based casino roulette in South Africa, the winnings are tax-free. Online roulette winnings are technically illegal, and they can be forfeited if you withdraw them on your bank account. So if done correctly, you won’t have to pay any tax.
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Can I play online roulette on my smartphone?
- Certainly, you can! Most South African casinos offer mobile roulette at their sites.
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Can I play online roulette with South African Rands?
- Yes, South African casinos accept Rands with most deposit methods. Read the reviews to check if your preferred payment option allows you to use Rands.
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Do I have to pay for online roulette, or can I play it for free?
- Play it for free at CasinoHEX to test your skills.
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What do I need to know about online roulette before I start playing?
- You need to know the types of bets, general rules, and strategies of betting. You can read up on all of that on this page.
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Can I know what color will hit more times?
- Some people believe in winning streaks, but that’s a very disputable concept. Since online roulette runs on a digital random number generator, you cannot predict what color is going to hit next.
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What is the better strategy, outside bets or multiple inside bets?
- If you win an outside bet, you get paid 2 to 1 in the best case scenario. A well made multiple inside bet in an online roulette game will land you as low 5 to 1 and as high as 30 to 1. However, it costs more chips to make. The choice is yours.
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If I double my bet after a loss, can I win more money?
- Your win can cover the previous loss. Or you can lose twice as much. You never know what the next number is going to be in a game of chance.
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Do online roulette strategies work?
- Depends on what strategies do you mean. Martingale and Fibonacci only give you a slight chance of returning your lost bet, if you have enough money to wager. Strategically placing a series of chips on the table gives you a chance to win more money, but you can lose anywhere from 4 to 9 chips for a wrong hit.
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How do I know online roulette at my casinos is not rigged?
- Look at the bottom of the casino site. If it has badges of reputable licensing organizations on it, you’re good to go. If you’re not sure, only use casino sites that you find on CasinoHEX. We carefully choose those that are worthy of your trust.
I’m Leah and I joined the team in July 2020 as a second editor of CasinoHEX.co.za.
Now I review licensed online casinos and slots on the South African market to provide the readers with juicy and rich bonuses, the newest promotions, and other useful information to help them make the right choice and enjoy safe and joyful gambling.
My name is Banele Nkuna, and I am thrilled to be a part of the CasinoHEX.co.za team as the second editor.
With a passion for online gambling and a deep understanding of the South African market, I have been entrusted with the task of reviewing licensed online casinos and slots and preparing blog posts for our site.
Since joining in May 2023, my primary goal has been to provide our readers with valuable insights into the world of online gambling.
