Best Roulette Online for Real Money | April 2024
Online roulette is one of the hottest games in gambling right now. Already popular with the younger demographic, it has only continued exploding as more states have legalized online casinos and introduced live dealer roulette.
The live dealer version uses a real dealer in a studio or on the gaming floor and streams the actual online roulette games to your phone or computer. You get a real wheel, an actual live dealer, and, best of all, a real ball falling into the wheel head. This variant has proven extremely popular, and many online table games now have live versions to meet demand.
While only seven states currently have legalized online gambling, more are sure to approve internet casinos in the coming years. In the meantime, if you are in Michigan, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Delaware, or Rhode Island, you can play online roulette games.
Learn more about playing online roulette for real money in this guide. In addition to sharing top casinos with the game, we'll discuss roulette variants, tips for playing, and more.
CONTENTS
- Top Real Money Casinos to Play Roulette
- Best Real Money Roulette Game Variations
- How to Play Roulette Online for Real Money
- Online Roulette for Real Money Bonuses
- How to Find the Right Roulette Online Casino
- Real Money Roulette vs. Free Roulette
- Most Common Real Money Roulette Terms
- Tips to Help You Win at Real Money Roulette
- Online Roulette vs. Live Dealer Roulette
- Playing Online Roulette Responsibly
- Online Roulette for Real Money FAQs
TOP REAL MONEY CASINOS TO PLAY ROULETTE
While not all seven states have the same online casinos to choose from, most of them will have the casinos we've listed below. We've selected these operators because they represent the best value, comps, and sign-up bonuses we could find.
BETMGM CASINO
Considering that it's the country's most well-known online casino operator, BetMGM is a great place to play roulette. It has 25+ different games, including over a dozen live dealer games. Whether it's Live Dealer European roulette or Space Invaders Roulette, you can probably find it here. It also has tons of other casino games as well, along with more than 1200 slot machines.
When you sign up with the BetMGM Casino bonus code VIBONUS, you'll get the welcome offer: Get a 100% Deposit Match up to $1000 + $25 on the House! While the bonus isn't eligible for online roulette, it's still a good way to get started on the platform.
You can earn BetMGM reward points for your roulette play and still be eligible for drawings, promos, and free-play offers, which takes some of the sting out of the bonus being only for slots. The massive library of roulette games along with reasonable table minimums and branded major league sports tables make this online casino worth checking out.
CAESARS PALACE ONLINE CASINO
Register today and claim the signup bonus of Get a 100% Deposit Match up to $2,500 + 2,500 Rewards Points! (no Caesars Palace bonus code needed!). But again, the casino only seems interested in slot players, as these bonuses are slot-exclusive.
The online casino has a respectable selection of 10+ titles, including some live dealer options. Additionally, be sure to take advantage of the Caesars rewards program so you can earn points for your play.
Caesars is generous with its email offers for reduced-rate rooms and free meals to get you to its regional casinos, and it's certainly worth signing up for if only for that reason. Caesars will also offer you tickets to drawings and promotions for your roulette play and has top-of-the-line customer service agents.
If you have a dedicated host at one of its many brick-and-mortar casinos, make sure to ask about being assigned an online host to get better offers.
DRAFTKINGS CASINO
While DraftKings may lack the jaw-dropping casino match bonuses of its bigger land-based competitors, it will give you a $100 match on sign-up with at least a $5 deposit that you can use to play any of its 20+ roulette games. The casino only requires a 1x playthrough before it releases the funds. No DraftKings Casino bonus code needed!
DraftKings has a lot of really fun roulette games to choose from, including a live-dealer version of French roulette, which is an extremely rare find. The casino has several tables of Lightning Roulette with live dealers and a VIP European Roulette live-dealer game with $10,000 max bets on the outside.
While you can't get invited to one of its regional land-based casinos, the casino still has lots of promotions and giveaways, especially during major league sporting events.
BETRIVERS CASINO
BetRivers is another outstanding place to play roulette, so be sure to check out our BetRivers Casino bonus code.
We enjoyed its Blazing Sevens roulette and progressive roulette, which has a jackpot in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. It has several regional brick-and-mortar casinos sprinkled around the Northeast, so you can expect some emails and offers for those properties as well.
Roulette play will earn you BetRivers points, which help you rise through the casino's nice little ecosystem of tier levels, offers, and promotions.
GOLDEN NUGGET ONLINE CASINO
The Golden Nugget Online Casino has 15+ roulette games to choose from. Three popular live dealer options include Lightning Roulette, Live Casino Floor Roulette, and Live Dealer Roulette.
When you sign up with Golden Nugget Online Casino bonus code VIBONUS, you can get the welcome offer Get a 100% Deposit Match up to $1000 + $25 on the House! You would need to play roulette 40x your deposit before you could withdraw those bonus funds, which isn't terrible.
Golden Nugget also has regional casinos sprinkled around the country and a presence in Las Vegas, so earning its rewards points can pay off. The casino is pretty generous with these offers in an attempt to get you in the door.
BEST REAL MONEY ROULETTE GAME VARIATIONS
While much of the attention is always on the older versions of roulette, the past decade or so has seen a roulette renaissance regarding fun variants of the game. These new roulette games offer everything from two balls spinning at once to betting on a dozen tables simultaneously.
AMERICAN ROULETTE
The tried-and-true American version of roulette is one that many have played for years. It has two zeros, 0 and 00. The wheel head has 38 sections, which, in addition to the two zeros, include the numbers 1-36. Half of those are red, and the other half are black. The numbers are not numerically arranged around the wheel head, but all American roulette wheel heads keep the same order.
Outside bets pay even money; the columns and dozens of bets will pay you 2 to 1. The inside bets pay 35x on a straight-up, 17x on a winning split, and 8x if you catch a corner. The street and double street pay 5x and 11x, respectively.
EUROPEAN ROULETTE
European roulette, or single-zero roulette, is almost precisely the same as American roulette but with just one zero on the wheel. Everything pays the same, and the game is played exactly the same barring a few differences. Perhaps most notably, the order of the numbers on a single zero wheel is not the same as the double zero American wheels.
With only 37 sections for the ball to fall in, you have 18 ways to win and 19 ways to lose versus American roulette's 18 ways to win and 20 ways to lose. Thus, European roulette reduces the house advantage down to 2.73% vs the 5.26% in American roulette.
While it's hard to find the exact time and place the decision was made to add an extra zero and double the casino's edge on roulette games in this country, it goes back to at least 1931 and the relegalization of gambling in Nevada. Casino games in Europe had done away with the second zero by the middle 1800s.
FRENCH ROULETTE
French roulette is an enjoyable variation of European roulette. Roulette was almost certainly invented in France, and by the time of Louis XIV, it was firmly rooted in the French royal court. The game that survived the Revolution had bets not only like those found on the American wheel but also bets like Voisins Du Zero, La Tiers Du Cylinder, and Jue Zero.
All of these involve betting sections of the wheel near zero or numbers in a section across from zero. This fascination with numbers next to each other or segments of the wheel also meant the French incorporated an extra racetrack-like betting area on the roulette layout that features the numbers of the wheel head in order and makes betting sections, segments, or adjoining numbers more straightforward.
The French game will also have either of two unusual rules regarding betting the outside numbers. There's En Prison, which just means that when zero rolls, your outside bets don't lose but are marked up as imprisoned and must remain until the next roll and can't be taken down.
There's also La Partage, which means we will share our outside bets when zero rolls, with the house taking half and returning half to us. This rule means that the house edge on outside bets in French Roulette drops to a very respectable 1.35%, making it the best roulette bet around.
3D ROULETTE
Playtech released this version of RNG roulette in 2016. It was meant to be an ultra-realistic version of European roulette and even included the racetrack that we often associate with the French variant. However, this one lacks the indicators of the French Game – En Prison or La Partage rules.
Despite its hyperrealistic graphics at the time, it is still an RNG game with software code determining outcomes.
MINI ROULETTE
What if we took just the first twelve numbers, a single zero, and a somewhat reduced wheel head and made a new roulette game? That seems to be the premise behind mini roulette.
The fundamental premise was probably taking a game that people knew and loved, changing it just enough to get a patent, and then jacking up the house advantage by almost 50% to a whopping 7.69% on bets that include zero. If you can avoid that and just bet non-zero involved bets, you can keep the house advantage to a more mundane 3.85%.
MULTI-WHEEL ROULETTE
This roulette variant lets you make the same bets across any number of tables. Perhaps you want to play the single numbers 4, 12, 22, and 28. You bet them on the main betting screen, and the RNG "spins" the ball on eight different wheel heads, giving you a chance to win on multiple tables. The game's original version allowed you to choose up to eight different tables, but subsequent games allow far more.
MULTI-BALL ROULETTE
Multi-ball roulette is another game made possible only by the wizardry of animation and computer software. You can bet as you would normally, but we can add more balls to the wheel head to have more ways to win. While this RNG version began with just two balls, updated software makes it possible for players to add tons more. Multi-ball usually occurs on a European roulette layout.
HOW TO PLAY ROULETTE ONLINE FOR REAL MONEY
Playing online roulette for real money has never been easier. If you are in one of the seven states where online casinos are legal, it's as simple as registering for an account, depositing funds from your debit or credit card, and finding the roulette table that appeals to you.
But before we do all that, comes the hard part: finding the best place to play roulette. We want good signup bonuses and even better ongoing bonuses. We want a casino with plenty of different games to play, including Live Dealer options. We want fair minimums and maximums that let us play affordably but leave us room to press our bets if we get on a winning streak.
ONLINE ROULETTE FOR REAL MONEY BONUSES
One of the most important things to consider when deciding where to play roulette online is the bonuses that come with sign-up. You'll also want to pay attention to promos that the casinos send out for rebuys or meeting a certain wagering requirement.
These bonuses, more than anything else, will determine just how big of a final house edge the casino holds over us. As we mentioned when discussing the individual casino offerings above, every operator takes a different approach to bonuses. Types of welcome offers range from deposit matches and first-bet safety nets to no-deposit matches and free spins.
We can make a more informed decision about where we should play by weighing all of these bonuses and fitting them to our individual needs. For instance, if you only have $100 to deposit, massive initial match signups aren't going to mean as much. You might prefer a first-bet safety net or even a no-deposit that dishes out rewards just for signing up.
Of course, always read the terms and conditions. Sign up for a few different sites and see their ongoing offers. Stick your toes in the water, but go slow. Remember, the bonus game is constantly changing. Keep an eye out for new or evolving terms, some for better, some for worse.
HOW TO FIND THE RIGHT ROULETTE ONLINE CASINO
While bonuses are a huge factor, here are some other things to consider when picking the right online roulette casino.
DIVERSE GAME SELECTION
Most people will want to play different types of roulette and may look for other casino games as well, like a compelling blackjack game or a live dealer craps game. They may want the ability to play roulette with either a live dealer or just with the RNG. They may want to play American Roulette occasionally but concentrate on European Roulette most of the time.
You will want to sign up with casinos that offer the games you like and want to learn more about. Fortunately, using demo mode allows you to get a better understanding of what games they have and which ones look interesting without having to put up real money until you're ready to commit.
LARGE PAYOUT PERCENTAGES
This isn't as big a factor with online roulette games because there isn't as much of a spread between the house edges. But if you come across a casino that only offers American roulette with a 5.26% house advantage, Mini roulette with its over 7% house advantage, and lots of other games where the house edge is always high, you might want to look elsewhere.
MOBILE ACCESSIBILITY
Believe it or not, there was a time when not all online casinos offered all their casino games on mobile. This used to be especially true of some of the live dealer roulette games. This should only be an issue now with much smaller casinos using very outdated software, and that alone should be a flag. The beauty of online gaming is that you can do it anywhere, anytime. You've negated its most significant selling point if you can't do it from your phone or mobile device.
SAFE & SECURE PLAY
Not all casinos are created equal. You should play with licensed, regulated American casinos. Period.
Playing with off-shore sites can leave you with compromised computers, identity theft, or even missing money. All state-licensed properties in the U.S. have undergone background checks, had their software code checked and then checked again, and have everything to lose and nothing to gain by engaging in unscrupulous business practices. You can trust them to be safe and secure.
QUALITY CUSTOMER SERVICE
It shouldn't take three days to get an email answered. You should have access to at least 24/7 customer chat if not 24/7 phone support. You should have knowledgeable agents who can answer questions without consulting their manager's manager. If the casino you are playing with doesn't have that, it's time to find a new one.
REAL MONEY ROULETTE VS. FREE ROULETTE
Online roulette games can be played for free or for real money. Most major online roulette sites will allow you to play their roulette games in demo mode, which is handy if you are in a state where you aren't allowed to wager.
There are a few other times when you might wish to play free roulette games online, as well as times when you will want to play roulette online for real money; we will cover both below.
REAL MONEY ROULETTE GAMES
The introduction of a wager, no matter how small, is what makes the game more exciting. It's a way of keeping score, and with minimum bets on most online roulette sites as low as ten cents, you don't have to bet much to play roulette online for real money.
Another good time to play online roulette is if you want to gamble but don't want to drive an hour to the casino in the dead of night, look for parking, trudge another half mile into the casino, get your coat off, and find a table. Online roulette is right there. If you have $20 to wager and thirty minutes to kill, you can have a go at an online casino.
FREE ONLINE ROULETTE GAMES
There are many times when playing online roulette for free makes sense, and one of the top is when you are learning a new game. If you have decided to familiarize yourself with the joys of French roulette but have no idea what Orphelins or Finale bets are, it only makes sense to play for free. You need to understand what numbers you are betting and why before you progress to betting real money.
Another prime example is when you are trying to understand various roulette strategies. Even at a ten-cent minimum bet, you could quickly get taught a very expensive lesson if the wheel goes against you. After just ten losses, you are already betting $51.29 to get your ten cents back on the Martingale. It is best to play around with these strategies and understand how dangerous they can be to your bankroll while betting in demo mode.
MOST COMMON REAL MONEY ROULETTE TERMS
There is something about gamblers that tends to bring out some unusual terms and slang. Some of it is out of necessity, but it mostly seems to be about an us vs. them sort of narrative. In any case, we've broken down the meanings of some of the more esoteric terms you may hear at a roulette table so you don't feel left out.
ACTION
The common term for a bet or bets. "I'd like to get some action on the European Roulette game tonight." Or "no more action" as the dealer waves his hand across the wheel, meaning they're done taking bets.
BALL TRACK
Just underneath the lip of the roulette wheel head, you will notice a groove where the roulette ball spins happily until falling out of orbit into a number. This is the ball track, the track that the ball races along.
CREDIT
Just as in real life, credit refers to borrowing money to gamble. This may not mean actually taking out a loan; you may just have a large sum of money you don't wish to carry. You can deposit it at the cage and take a marker or credit at the table, which will be paid back out of your deposit.
GOLDEN NUMBERS
Golden numbers are found on online roulette games that offer the golden ball side bet. An online casino often offers many roulette side bets to pad its considerable house advantage further. In Golden Ball roulette, a golden ball is generated randomly from time to time, and golden numbers are scattered about the wheel head. These numbers also have random payouts if they win, sometimes as much as 500 to 1.
INSIDE BET
When you hear someone refer to an inside bet while playing at the roulette table, they refer to bets on 0, 00, or 1-36. These can be straight-up bets, split bets where you cover two numbers, corner bets where your bet covers four numbers, or even street or double street bets that can cover three or six numbers.
OUTSIDE BETS
The other bets on the roulette table are red/black, even/odd, or 1-18/19-36. They also include the columns or the dozens bet.
ORPHANS
French roulette is very interested in the betting section of the wheel, believing that one section is more likely to hit than another. Bets like Voisins Du Zero, Zeu Zero, and Tiers Du Cylindre each cover about one-third of the wheel head, allowing you to bet large swaths of the wheel. The eight remaining numbers are called the Orphans or Orphlins, which are 1, 6, 9, 14, 17, 20, 31, and 34. But they are traditionally covered with five chips – four split bets on 6/9, 14/17, 17/20, 31/35, and a chip straight up on 1.
POCKETS
Pockets are the area of the wheel head where the ball falls into. There are 38 pockets on an American-style wheel and 37 on the European roulette wheel.
HOUSE EDGE
House edge is how much the casino should win from you on each bet over millions of hands. In the case of double zero roulette, that number is 5.26%. The flip side of this is called Return To Player, which is how much the player should expect to keep out of each bet over millions of hands. In this case, it's 94.74%.
It's important to remember that this is on every spin of the ball, each independent decision. If you've got a total of $100 in bets on the layout over time, you will lose $5.26 every time the ball lands. That can add up quickly with high-house advantage casino games like American roulette.
TIPS TO HELP YOU WIN AT REAL MONEY ROULETTE
The simplest tip is to play roulette games with a very low house advantage, such as the outside bets on French Roulette or even European Single Zero roulette.
The higher the house advantage, the quicker the money will go. But as we talked about above, sign-on bonuses, ongoing bonuses, and even points, comps, and promotions can all be used to offset some of this house edge.
UNDERSTAND THE RULES OF ROULETTE
Make sure you know the house edge of the game you are playing, read the casino's terms and conditions on bonuses, and make sure that roulette play qualifies. You should also figure out how many points you get for each wager and what those points might be worth, and only play games with a low house edge at casinos that reward you with good bonuses and other offers.
WAGER CONSERVATIVELY
Only bet with money you can afford to lose, and never chase losing bets. Stay far away from systems like the Martingale, which will have you betting thousands to win back $25. Set up a bankroll for the allotted time and never exceed that. Remember, the house has the advantage.
UNDERSTAND THE ROULETTE ODDS
One interesting thing about online roulette is that the house odds are not affected by skill or the bets you choose to place. With one tiny exception, all of your bets on either American or Single Zero European Roulette have the same house edge, whether you bet straight up or the outside, at 5.26% or 2.7%, respectively.
With French roulette, we have the outside bets with a 1.35% house edge and the rest of the bets at 2.7%, but none of this is affected by how you play (unlike games such as blackjack or craps).
Knowing your house edge can be a bit trickier with all of the newer roulette variants, especially those with side bets. You can always google the name of the roulette game followed by RTP (Return To Player) to get a good idea of the house edge. In almost all cases, the best RTP is going to be on European roulette or the French variation if you only bet on the outside.
It's important to point out that when we talk about 5.26% or 2.7%, we are talking about twice as much of a house edge. Many people might write off the difference as only a few percentage points. But you can play twice as long or lose only half as much in a given time by just playing the single zero game vs. the double zero roulette games.
ONLINE ROULETTE VS. LIVE DEALER ROULETTE
While live dealer roulette continues to grow, there are many things that you can do with old-school RNG roulette games that don't have to rely on actual physics. It doesn't have to be an either-or, as you can play online roulette either way at almost all real money online casinos.
ONLINE ROULETTE
Games like multi-ball roulette or even multi-table roulette just aren't possible when using a real roulette table and a streamed display. Games like pinball roulette need RNG-type play to showcase all the action. While you could technically play games like Age of the Gods Roulette on a real table, these games do best when played with arcade-style graphics and the RNG standing in for an actual ball.
Another reason many people enjoy online roulette with the RNG is that it doesn't involve a live dealer. That dealer adds cost, so many online games can be found for ten cents while live dealer games will almost always be at least a dollar. And some people prefer to keep their contact with real people to a minimum, thus the popularity of slots.
LIVE DEALER ROULETTE
The live dealer game mostly appeals to those who prefer the classic single- or double-zero roulette games. European roulette, because of its low house edge and scarcity in U.S. brick-and-mortar casinos, has been the biggest beneficiary of live dealer roulette online.
Playing online roulette with the Random Number Generator can feel like the games are scripted or not entirely random. This is mostly a trick of the mind since we can't see the actual ball falling into the wheel head. The software code is meticulously checked and rechecked by state gaming agencies, independent labs, and casinos themselves, but you might have a lack of faith when you can't see it happen in front of you.
As live dealer games mature and technology improves, we are starting to see games like Lightning Roulette have that same roulette feeling but now add in a game show vibe. It will be interesting to see if these hybrid games are the future of live dealer games or if most people will prefer the versions of the game that haven't changed in hundreds of years (other than being streamed to your device).
PLAYING ONLINE ROULETTE RESPONSIBLY
It can be easy to get caught up in the convenient and always-available nature of gambling at an online casino. Even with the lower minimums at online roulette, you might find it tempting to bet more than you should.
Fortunately, almost all online roulette games have software that lets you set daily, weekly, and monthly loss limits as well as time limits. These various features recognize that problem gambling isn't always about losing money but can sometimes involve losing valuable time.
Make sure to set a budget both in time and money for your online gambling. If you or someone you know might have a gambling issue, there is help available. The National Problem Gambling Helpline folks can point you to resources in your community or online that can help. Additionally, don't hesitate to call 1-800-GAMBLER for support.
ONLINE ROULETTE FOR REAL MONEY FAQS
Have more questions about online roulette for real money? We've got answers below.
IS REAL MONEY ROULETTE RIGGED?
It's rigged in the sense that the American roulette game has a 5.26% advantage over you. That means you will lose one average bet every 20 spins. An average $25 player who sees 40 spins an hour is going to lose an average of $52 per hour played. So yeah, it's rigged in that sense.
But these huge, heavily regulated companies that are traded on the stock market don't need to do anything more than add another zero to the wheel to increase their house advantage. They don't need to risk their license, let alone their stock price, by engaging in any shady shenanigans.
HOW OLD DO I HAVE TO PLAY REAL MONEY ROULETTE?
All legal online casinos in the U.S. currently require players to be 21. Even in Rhode Island, where you can play in brick-and-mortar casinos at 18, the age for online casinos is 21.
WHERE CAN I PLAY REAL MONEY ROULETTE ONLINE?
Michigan, Delaware, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Connecticut allow you to play online roulette for real money.
IS MY MONEY SAFE AT ONLINE ROULETTE CASINOS?
Your money is safe. All online casinos in the U.S. are carefully vetted and regulated to ensure that they play fairly, are well-backed, and have the liquidity to ensure that your deposits are never mixed with casino funds.
WHAT IS THE BEST SITE TO PLAY REAL MONEY ROULETTE?
There is really no one-size-fits-all answer as people want different things. Perhaps you enjoy a wide variety of roulette games, while someone else may only be interested in large sign-up bonuses, while yet another person wants live dealer roulette available 24/7 at 50 cents a spin.
Decide what is important to you, and play with a few sites to see which meets your expectations. If you are lucky enough to live in New Jersey or Pennsylvania, you'll have twenty or thirty online casinos to choose from. However, if you live in Delaware or Rhode Island, your options are much more limited.