Although I’ve played at loads of internet based casinos, I have to say most of them leave me pretty cold.  Playing online roulette for real money – you have to be firstly very careful about where you play. The internet is absolutely cram packed full of very dubious looking online casinos, licensed in strange countries (or often not licensed anywhere) that drag you in with incredible bonuses that they have no intention of paying out.

The number one criteria when looking at all the roulette sites has to be are they honest, and for that you need to select a known, trusted brand.   A large company with a multi-million pound valuation is not going to rip you off, a two bit casino with a fancy website could well do.  There are lists online of these scam and blacklisted casinos, however these can also be manipulated and outdated.

However there are some great places to play real online roulette if you’re careful and indeed it’s a useful way to practice before playing roulette at casinos which can be quite intimidating.

Check That Casino License

If you scroll down to the bottom of the home page of any online roulette site then somewhere you should find a statement regarding where they’re licensed.  Every site must have a gaming license from somewhere – but generally some are more trustworthy than others.  Probably the safest are those from the UK and Gibraltar – most of the world’s biggest online casinos and gambling sites are registered here.

“Casino.com is licensed and regulated to offer online casino gaming services under the jurisdiction of Gibraltar. ”

One of the world’s biggest and best online casinos and it’s registered in Gibraltar means that it’s about as safe as you’re going to get. You still might lose money when you play online roulette here  but it will be lost fairly and you won’t be cheated.   The bigger companies also will have decent support departments, better and faster platforms and lots will even offer live roulette now.   These are generally live roulette games with real dealers, not usually from a real casino but filmed in a studio somewhere.  It’s as near as you’ll get to a proper non electronic online roulette game if that’s what you’re interested in.

Here’s some of the listings from Casino.com

• Slots – Perhaps the most popular genre of casino games, Online Slots are a major part of our casino game library. We have over 200 games with a wide range of themes, including sports, TV and movies, fantasy, fruit, Asian, and much more. You can also find a variety of slot games with progressive jackpots, including the Kingdom Rise game suite, DC Super Hero collection, Age of the Gods, and more.
• Roulette – There are more than 10 different Online Roulette In addition to the standard single-zero roulette wheel, you’ll find a double-zero wheel, Mini Roulette, and several outstanding progressive roulette games.
• Blackjack – Blackjack is one of the most popular casino games at Casino.com UK. Of course, you can play the classic card game, but you’ll have the chance to play with variations such as Blackjack Switch, Blackjack Surrender, All American, Pontoon, and more.
• Live casino – Get the most authentic casino experience when you play at the Casino.com UK live casino. You’ll connect to a land-based casino in Riga, Latvia, through streaming technology. Play your favourite casino games like blackjack, roulette and baccarat. Not only will you get to watch as the action happens in real-time, but you’ll also be able to chat with your dealer. `
• Video Poker – Video Poker combines two of the greatest casino genres, poker, and Online Slots. Unlike online slots, there is some strategy that can be used to increase your odds of winning real money.
• Jackpots – Nothing beats winning a jackpot, and UK punters will have the chance to win one. Whether it’s a progressive jackpot, hitting the right number on the roulette wheel, or 5-of-a kind in slots, there is the chance at winning some of the best jackpots in the UK.

Don’t be to worried about the game being rigged or fixed on sites like this, it won’t happen.   For a start the prime suspicious component – the random number generator isn’t actually run by the casino sites.  They are licensed out form the companies who make the games like Playtech or Microgaming – these are the companies who control this component (they are also frequently tested and audited).

Watch Out for the Big Bonuses !

Be wary about any of the online roulette casinos which offer very large bonuses.  First of all be assured that you cannot just sign up, collect your enormous bonus and then sign out again.  These bonuses are very hard to collect, and the bigger they are the harder it gets.

The problem is that they’re loads of fine print regarding most welcome bonus offers which makes it very difficult to cash them.  The primary tool is something called wagering requirements which stipulate how many times you have to wager that bonus before it’s eligible to be cashed out.  This can be many, many times and indeed even the fairest casinos will have wager requirements of x45 which means you have to bet the bonus 45 times before you can cash it.

What’s more there’s even likely to be restrictions on what you can bet on too.  Simple even money chances like red/black or odd/even are normally excluded because they offer a better chance of actually getting the bonus.

Never pick a casino or any place which offers online casino games based on their bonus – it’s not designed to be cashed out anyway.  It’s better to pick a top roulette site based on support, banking options, pay out speed than this.

Starting out to Play Roulette Online

Most of the reputable casino sites will usually have quite similar games this is because they’re licensed from other companies.  However there’s still lots of choice and if you’re playing for profit more than fun then you should be  careful where you play.

If you want to play roulette then make sure it’s a European roulette table not an American roulette one.  The reason is that European roulette has only one zero on the wheel which means that the house edge is significantly reduced.

It’s always best to try out a casino in free play mode, especially if you’re learning how to play roulette. Nearly all of them do this and it allows you to load up the software, check out the rules and check the house edge all these things can make a big difference to both your enjoyment and the chances of winning. You’ll actually find lots of the casinos look very similar, as they will often be running the same software.

If you see anything suspicious about an online casino simply stay away, things like spelling mistakes or poor grammar are not going to happen on the pages of a reputable online casino. Ridiculous bonuses are also a very bad sign, remember it doesn’t matter how much they offer you in bonuses if they’re not going to pay them. These casinos just expect you to lose so there’s no real loss involved for them.  

Check where they’re licensed, the big legitimate companies will be licensed in places like Gibraltar, Malta, Isle of Man or the UK with proper rules and restrictions to protect you. Obviously the scam casinos are never going to get approved in places like this so will look for less restrictive locations (or simply make them up).

Playing with Real Money Online

There are other issues with playing online that you should be aware of, one of the main ones is the cost per hour to play these games. When you play any game in a casino including roulette there is an element of social interaction, some built in delays which affects the speed of play. This is important as this is fundamental to how much you could potentially lose online. Here’s how you calculate a rough idea of the cost per hour of any gambling activity.

Cost per Hour = house edge x Number of bets x Average Stake

Of course this can’t give you an exact amount it can be used to produce a rough idea with normal luck and skill will happen when you are playing online. The issue with many of the online casinos is that they’re too quick, you can get double or more spins in the same time as a conventional roulette game. If you’re not careful this speed can cause you to lose an awful lot of money very quickly if you hit a bad streak (of course the opposite also applies you can win a lot very quickly too!). This is why I prefer Casino.com’s live dealer as it still has those built in delays with croupiers paying out, chatting with customers etc – simply because it is a live video stream of a real game. It also makes it much more fun than just constantly pushing a button over and over again whilst a computer program spins an electronic wheel.  It’s not a guarantee of a method of how to win at roulette, but it does maximise the fun.

So let’s put in some numbers to our equation, presuming we’re playing a single zero game of roulette (and there’s no reason in the world to choose one with two zeros when you’re online). The house edge will be 2.70%, maybe you make about 40 bets per hour with $5 dollar stakes.

Cost per Hour = 2.7% x 40 x 5

Which totals up at this –

Cost per hour = $5.40

Which looks a very fair cost for some entertainment. But if you’re playing online roulette for real money at one of these normal casinos you can easily double the number of games, which double the overall potential losses. In fact everything scales much quicker the more games you play per hour so be very careful this is particularly relevant when playing online roulette.   It is great fun but can quickly get out of control, it sounds obvious but it’s not a great idea to drink while playing these games either.

Real physical casinos are very generous with dishing out free drinks but they do it for a reason.  Alcohol will invariably cause punters to play more, bet more and potentially lose more, you can quickly become unaware of how much you’re playing so it’s best to avoid real drinks!  Coffee, tea and soft drinks will be a better option and save the glass of wine until afterwards when you’re ready to celebrate.

Of course this is not a perfect assessment of the costs but it’s a handy little equation, but remember if you start throwing electronic or real chips all over the board on every spin, then you might as well forget about those estimates.