Online Roulette

This website will bring you lots of news, reviews and information on playing the best gambling game in the World. The word roulette is actually derived from the French meaning ‘Little Wheel’. No one is entirely sure who invented the game, but my favorite version is that it was created by Blaise Pascal in the sixteenth century as part of an experiment to discover a perpetual motion machine. One of his friends saw the potential for a gaming machine and hence the origin of the game we love. I’d imagine he’d be pretty amazed to see how we could now play online roulette from our computers.

So Where to Play Roulette on the Web?
There’s certainly a lot of choice, but in my mind the single most important point is that it’s a reputable casino. One that plays fair, pays quickly when you win and has a decent support if you have any problems. There’s still plenty of these but it does cut down the choice significantly.

However I also have a personal preference of live casinos, simply because I don’t want the result worked about by computer software. Unfortunately the majority of live casinos are all very artificial – there’s little atmosphere as they’re specifically set up for the TV cameras, all except one. I first found this casino because I actually played there on a Stag weekend in Dublin

Here’s some screenshots from DublinBet Online roulette.

What you can see is a real casino in Fitzwilliam Street in Dublin. You place your bets at exactly the same time as the other punters and then watch the wheel spin. You’ll see people winning, losing and even occasionally falling off their stool and being escorted off the premises!

You don’t even have to use real money to enjoy the atmosphere – the free game is exactly the same and you play alongside everyone else.  You can access the free game here - Dublin Bet Preview Game

These are results you can trust

Have you ever had that nagging feeling the computer is cheating when you play in any online roulette game? That single time you put a bundle on black and it comes up red.  Now I’m pretty sure most online casinos don’t cheat but it’s still a computer program.

Anyone who has ever played electronic slot machines knows how they can easily adjust payouts.  Ultimately you have to trust the code that runs the game, but not here.    You’ll see the wheel spun by a real croupier, in a real casino alongside the other punters who are physically there.  It’s a great way to test out tactics andsystems and even learn the game.

Anyway although Dublinbet is my personal favorite but of course there are lots of other great ones.  I play on about 4 different roulette sites and you’ll see only those mentioned on this site.   There is though no online roulette game that is as good as the real thing so get out there and visit one,  it’s a great night out.

So for the romantic, the eccentric and thrill seekers amongst us, there is simply no better way to gamble.   This web site is dedicated to the thrill of the game of roulette and how we can play it safely online. Remember roulette is a game of chance, when lady luck is with you she can make you very rich, but there are no guarantees, no certain systems despite what you read online.

You can read all about these systems in this blog, they all sound convincing and people have been losing money to most of them for hundreds of years. The beauty of roulette is it’s simplicity and the transparency of the game. No hidden rules, no bluffing, just the spin of the wheel and wherever it lands determines your fate.

A Word of Caution

Unfortunately this wonderful game has also been targeted by crooks, hackers and thieves so be careful were you play. Stay well clear of HUGE bonuses, anything promoted by spam email or basically anything that sounds too good to be true.  The bonuses will either be non existent (so that you’ll download some virus riddled setup file) or have so many conditions on them that it will be impossible to ever claim.

Roulette is ultimately about randomness, without this then the game is a waste of time. You will notice our bias away from the software based online casinos in this website. Although some of them can be fun, the problem for real gambling is that the randomness is controlled by an RNG (Random Number Generator) which is built into the games software. I prefer my random a little more natural than that – which is why I always prefer live roulette played with a real croupier.

So enjoy this site, we’ll be adding lots of news, stories, mathematics and some interesting stuff about roulette in the near future. Any casinos recommended are based not on bonuses but reliability, support and most importantly fairness of the game. As such you won’t find huge lists of ‘recommended online casinos’ – simply because most of them aren’t that good!!

This Post is also available in German – Wie spielt man Roulette Online ?

Online Caribbean Stud Poker

There are lots of variants of poker but just a few seem to catch on and gain real popularity.  Caribbean Stud is one of those which has become increasingly popular despite only being about twenty five years old.   The origins of the game vary from Fremont Street in Vegas to a tour ship in the Caribbean – but there’s no doubt it’s a fun game.   It’s certainly one of the fastest growing table games around and you’ll find it played in all the major USA casinos although it’s not quite as popular in Europe.

Why is Caribbean Stud Poker so popular?

Well the game certainly has the possibility of very big pay offs and it’s very easy to understand.  But from a gambling perspective it’s not really for me – the standard game has a pretty high house edge somewhat over 5% which is about the same as playing roulette on an American wheel!  You can reduce the edge slightly by playing certain strategies but it’s still not the best game to maximise your chances of winning.  However sometimes it’s just about playing the game and Caribbean Stud is fun.

I’ll put a proper page up dedicated to the strategy of Caribbean Poker again as it’s quite a big subject.  Here though is a free online version of the game which you can practice on.

If you want to play for real money, you can find this game here - Try Baccarat Online at Bodog  and here for US Players.

If you want to play for real money, you can find this game here - Try Baccarat Online at Bodog  and here for US Players.

The Basics

Firstly all players must make the mandatory Ante bet on the table. Five cards are dealt to each player and one card is revealed from the Bankers hand. If you’re in a real casino you should wait until the dealer pushes your cards towards you before picking them up. Then you must evaluate your hand and decide if it’s worth gambling against the dealers. The rankings are standard poker values ranging from High Card value up to a Royal flush.

After Evaluation

• Fold – forfeit your cards and your Ante. In a casino you would place your cards face down and push them towards the dealer who will remove them from the game.
• Play on – Place an additional bet of exactly double the Ante. So if you played a $10 Ante then you would need to place a $20 bet to continue.

After all players have made their decisions, the dealer will turn over the remaining four cards on their hands. The dealer will then make the highest ranking poker hand available using their hand. To stay in the game the dealer has to ‘qualify’ which means that the hand must have at least a value of Ace/King to continue.

Caribbean Stud Poker Outcomes

• If the dealer qualifies – then all hands are compared with the dealer. If the players hand wins then the player wins on both Ante and the Raise bet. If the players hand is lower than the dealer then the player loses the Ante and the Bet.
• If the dealer doesn’t qualify – all players still in the game will win. But the payout is only based on the initial Ante not the Bet.

Winning Ante bets are paid at evens money.  The Bet wager is paid at escalating odds depending on the hand (but only if the dealer qualifies).  The odds range from evens to a pair up to 100-1 for a Royal flush.

The Progressive Jackpot

You’ll see in the game above an extra side bet called the progressive bet.  This gives you a chance to win the jackpot total at the top of the screen.  In a casino it will take the form of a drop slot with a red light next to it.  You activate this bet by placing a small bet (usually a $1) and it gives you a chance to win either all the amount or a percentage depending on your hand – Royal Flush would pay 100% of the jackpot for example.

Basic Caribbean Stud Poker Strategy 

It’s great fun to play but the house edge makes it a bad choice for serious gamblers.  However you should always play the Basic strategy for Caribbean Stud to minimize the house advantage.

• Always Fold if you Hold no Ranking Hand
• Always Place Bet if you Hold Pair or Better
• If you Hold Ace/King – Place Bet if one of your other cards matches or beats the dealers upturned card.

There are more advanced strategies but as I mentioned if you playing too seriously you shouldn’t be playing this game.  The existence of the Progressive Jackpot though does give an outside chance of a very big win if Lady Luck is smiling at you.  It’s a fun game though and despite my reservations about the odds I always play a few hands of Caribbean Stud Poker when I come across it.  Enjoy ………