ONLINE ROULETTE
(Angela: Should I play roulette on the Internet? How do I know they won’t cheat me? I am very scared about all this computer stuff. What should I do? I love roulette and it would be fun to play the game at home. But I just don’t know.)
Angela brings up a good point. She is not alone in her fear. Plenty of players are leery of gambling on the Internet. Are Internet games (also known as online casino games) really safe? Maybe 25-30 years ago I would have told readers to forget the Internet games as the owners of such web sites might be those sleazy types, today, things seem radically different. Many of the gambling sites are owned by large casino companies or big businesses that are not looking for controversy or quick cash. They are in the games for the long run, just as land-based casinos are. They are as real as real casinos.
THE TRUE TEST OF HONEST ONLINE CASINOS
There are several methods that one can use if worried about the honesty of an online casino. If you know someone who has been playing in an online casino ask that person if he or she is getting a good deal – meaning he or she doesn’t feel cheated by the site. Are they getting paid correctly? Are they able to cash out without any kind of problem?
The other way is to test the waters with a small foray into play. Make a few bets and if you win, cash out. Indeed, even if you lose, cash out. See how fast the site gives you back whatever amounts remain in your account. If they handle everything on the up and up, you can figure they are honest. Then creep back in and play for real.
Caution is not a bad word in online or land casinos for that matter. After all, your money is valuable to you (I would hope) and you don’t just want to throw it away on dishonest games.
ONLINE ROULETTE
The key to playing online roulette is the player’s desire to play real roulette, not some mockup of the game. You want the bets to pay the same as a brick and mortar casino’s games. You want the sense and feel of the real thing. You want, even with little or no exercise of your imagination, to be transported to the real casino world. Casino play is often more than just betting. It is the everything feel of the flow of the game and the environment.
In that light let’s take a look at the two types of online roulette games that you will no doubt encounter if you do some research into the online games: The games run by a random number generator (RNG) and the real games with real dealers at real wheels and tables.
RNG ROULETTE
The random number generator (RNG) is a computer program that selects various number sequences at random. Such sequences will be translated by a “machine” so that players will understand what results have just occurred. The RNG determines wins and losses and cannot be influenced by a big tip or a desire to engage in criminality.
The RNGs are the controllers of slot and video poker machines and are also used in various online casinos games such as roulette.
The random number sequences are selected in splits of seconds and the RNG runs constantly in a slot or video poker machine, even when such machines are not being played. Every winning or losing result is dictated by this random number generator.
The spinning slot-machine reels have nothing to do with what comes out – the RNG decides that. This holds true for all casino games run by RNGs.
A player presses the button and the RNG says to the machine: “The result is three sevens. Show that.” The RNG does it far (far, far, far, far, far) faster than my example.
WHAT IS PROGRAMMED RANDOMNESS?
The RNGs are programmed to be random, although we know there is a slight non-randomness to them, so slight that only the computer HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey could see that, so for all intents and purposes you are dealing with randomness – programmed randomness. (Snack on that idea!)
Sometimes the RNG is called the Pseudo-Random-Number- Generator to make everything clear – and I am sure that is now clear to you. Suffice it to say that the online roulette games controlled by the RNGs will give you the same types of results that a real wheel would give except that in truth you are playing a roulette version of a slot machine when you play an RNG roulette game. The facts are the facts.
DO THE ODDS CHANGE ON AN RNG ROULETTE GAME?
Have no fear, the odds on an RNG roulette game should be the exact same as on a regular roulette game. If you are betting an American double-zero game the house edge will be 5.26 percent and on the European single-zero game the house edge will be 2.70 percent. (I am sure you are getting sick of being reminded of these house edges.)
The number of numbers will be the same, 38 on the American wheel (36 numbers plus 0 and 00) and 37 on the European wheel (36 numbers plus 0). The payoffs on wins will be 35 to 1 as it is in land-based roulette.
If you should run into an online roulette game giving worse odds or payoffs then…okay, then what? You’d really need a psychiatrist if you play an online roulette game that stinks. I’m guessing if you are that crazy to play such an inferior game you aren’t even reading this guide so I actually don’t have to say to you, “Go away.”
Of course, some online casino sites might give you even better deals than a land-based casino. Okay, that’s great. Just make sure the “gift” is worth the expense of playing for it.
KEY ELEMENTS
- RNG roulette games are created just as slot machines and video poker machines with a computer programmed to select winners randomly.
- The random-number-generator(RNG) determines what the outcome of every spin will be.These outcomes are random just as a roulette game is random.
- All odds and probabilities are the same as in a regular roulette game.
LIVE ROULETTE GAMES WITH REAL DEALERS
There can be one big problem for players who decide to go the RNG route and that problem is the speed of the game.
The decisions come fast as soon as you place your bets. You can play RNG roulette at an amazingly fast pace if you get carried away with the game. You will also note that many of them do not allow the “ball” to spin around the wheel as often as it does in a regular game; that fact is something to heed.
So these are true cautions to consider. You can become emotionally numb relatively quickly online which will make you play faster and faster in order to get that delightful anticipatory feeling.
Caution is the word.
REAL DEALERS AT REAL WHEELS AT REAL TABLES WITH REAL LAYOUTS
Yes, there are now plenty of online casino sites that offer real games as in r-e-a-l games! That’s right, you will have a real live casino dealer spinning a real roulette ball on a real wheel and calling out the winners. A live dealer. A real person.
These are real games. I think I said that already. Oh, well, yes, to repeat they are real games. The pace of the game can be as fast or slow as you want. You’ll get to see a real ball spin round and round the wheel, land in the pockets, and jump all over the place – a real game!
You’ll find American wheels and European wheels dishing out live games. Of course (do I even have to say this?) play the European versions whenever possible. These are the better games. Also play the games that allow en prison or surrender on the even-money wagers. Make the best bets at these games and you’ll have a shot at winning.
A REAL GAME VERSUS AN RNG GAME
Which game should you play? I am guessing that real live roulette is the game you played in a real casino and it is this game you want to play online. If you like slot machines then you can go with an RNG roulette game but I am guessing that a real roulette game is truer to your nature than mucking around with RNG roulette.
Plenty of online casinos offer slot machines so slot players can go to their slot paradise. Roulette players want real dealers, real wheels, real layouts – they want the real feel of the game. Anyway that is my guess.
ANOTHER CAUTION NEEDED HERE
You do want your real game to be a real game so make sure that the odds and payouts are the same as in a land-based casino. If the game is actually better than a land-based game then, sure, play it. If the game is worse? I am sure you can answer that question on your own. Those who would play a worse game are not reading this guide. So I already know your answer!
KEY ELEMENTS
- Online casinos offering real live games – and these are real games with real dealers at real wheels with real layouts –is as close as you can get to the feel and activity of a land-based casino.
- All types of betting strategies can be used at these games, including any advantage-play techniques you might choose to employ.
LIVE ONLINE ROULETTE WITH REAL DEALERS vs. REGULAR LAND BASED
Most online casinos will want you to put money into a private account that can only be used by you. Indeed, some Internet casino sites do not want anyone else to be able to play with the money from your account or for you to give money (or lend money) to another player. Often, sites will restrict players and households from having two or more accounts from the same address.
Precautions have been put in place at many sites in an attempt to keep players (how shall I put this gently?) – from going nuts. Many roulette games allow the player to play more than one table at a time – some as many as 10! That can be dangerous for someone who can easily lose his cool. Lose your cool and more than likely you will lose your cash.
In fact some online casinos have even created “self-exclusion” contracts with players who just can’t handle such intense and often daily action.
MONEY MATTERS
Creating your account is easy. You usually send the money to the online casino through a credit card, a bank transfer and some sites will even take checks. You’ll also have to agree to the online site’s (usually long) list of your rights and responsibilities. If you are going to sign up to play online casino you would do yourself a service to read everything you need to know to play properly.
When you place your bets the money comes directly from your account. You can’t borrow money from the site or from other players. You must have the dough to play.
THE LURE AND LORE OF LIVE ONLINE ROULETTE GAMES
Most roulette sites play up the glamor of the game and how traditional and elegant such wagering can be. Even if you are playing in your dingy, humid, unfinished basement in a ripped shirt and wearing your ratty underwear, the roulette sites want to give you a sense that you are doing something that has a long pedigree (which it does) where smooth and cool men and women play casually with boatloads of money.
Now to be truly indelicate (do not read further if you are one of those constantly offended, continually complaining politically correct types – okay, my friend, you have been warned): The dealers are beautiful, sexy women dressed, well, sexily and the men are handsome hunks of steaming machismo.
DUPLICATING THAT CASINO FEEL
Since a real land-based casino has the adrenaline flow of dozens or perhaps hundreds of players to pump their anticipation into the air, online casino play has to duplicate that to the best of its ability. Giving players special sexy dealers and special treats will go a long way to winning players’ loyalties.
You will find live roulette games that have dealers schooled in sports talk, movie lore and current events. You can play the game and enjoy conversations too.
TECHNIQUES FOR ONLINE ROULETTE PLAY
Does an online Roulette game need special techniques and strategies of play that differ from a regular casino’s roulette game? No. If the game is the same, all the systems used for roulette in a brick and mortar casino will fit an online one.
You can even use the advantage-play techniques that I discuss in this guide on the live games. It can’t hurt and in my opinion playing these is more fun than playing the traditional systems.
The RNG game won’t allow you to find a biased wheel or a dealer’s signature or any other advantage opportunities. RNG roulette, as I’ve stated, is basically slot- machine roulette. I do guess some players like these as such games can be found quite often online.
THE SAME CAUTION ONE MORE TIME
Speed can kill you.
Keep in mind that these roulette games, be they RNG or live, can cause you to play way too many decisions. You set the pace. Make that pace leisurely. There is no rush and no prize (as far as I know) for playing fast. It isn’t a race to be finished.
Online roulette can be fun if you keep everything under control. That’s the key word “control.”
KEY ELEMENTS
- When you play a live online Roulette game – that is a game with a real dealer at a real wheel at a real layout – you are experiencing a real roulette game just like the ones you play in a real casino.
- You can play the roulette strategies discussed in this book but do not get caught in the trap of playing too many decisions.
Quiz
1. What is the RNG?
2. Should the odds be the same on an RNG game?
3. What two tests can an online casino pass so you can be fairly sure it is legitimate?
4. What composes a real game of roulette over the Internet?
5. How do the casinos create a great real game feel to its roulette games?
6. How can you create an online account?
7. The real dealers for online games share certain characteristics – which are?
8. What types of “special play” are necessary for online roulette?
9. What is the greatest pitfall for online roulette players?
10. Can advantage-play techniques be used for online RNG and live roulette
ANSWERS
1. The RNG is the random number generator. It is a computer program that randomly selects number sequences that will correspond to symbols or elements of a casino game or slot machine.
2. Yes, the odds on an RNG roulette game and the payouts should be the same (or better than) the odds and payouts on a regular roulette game.
3. If you know someone who has played that casino and gives it a good reference is the first way to figure if an online casino is legitimate. The second way is to play cautiously for low-stakes to see if the online casino does what it says it does.
4. A real game over the Internet has real live dealers, a real wheel, a real ball and a real layout. The game is played live as if you were in a real casino.
5. First the online casino wants you to think you are playing a game with a long history and pedigree. The dealers will interact with you just as they do in a real game as this is – in online cyberspace – a real game.
6. You must set up an account either through your credit card, a check or a bank transfer.
7. The real dealers for online games are good looking, sexy individuals. They add to the allure of the game.
8. No special play is necessary for online roulette as long as the game is the same (or better) than a regular roulette game in a brick and mortar casino.
9. The greatest pitfall for online roulette play is the possible speed of the games. Players can have a tendency to play really fast, which is not a good thing. A second pitfall is the fact that a player can often play more than one game at a time dramatically increasing the total amount of money he is wagering.
10. RNG games cannot be beaten with advantage-play techniques. However, all such techniques can be utilized in real, live play as they are described in this guide.
