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The JohnSlots Guide to Live Roulette

Live roulette variants are often high definition games streamed live from the most luxurious land-based casinos or cutting-edge studios. This makes them as realistic as possible. Each table you choose via your preferred device links you to a live dealer in real-time, offering you an immersive experience that none of the video roulette options can provide.

On this page, we’ll take you on an adventurous live casino journey where you’ll learn all about the odds and payouts of Live Roulette. Along with the basic rules and how to start playing games hosted by human dealers in real-time. Plus, our casino pros have compiled a list of the best sites for those of you on the lookout an online casino where you can play this popular live game.

Find the Best Live Roulette Sites at JohnSlots!

Great live roulette games selection

We are always on the lookout for casinos that offer an extensive selection of live roulette variants from the top software developers like Playtech and Evolution Gaming. If you are going to sign up with our recommended sites, we want to ensure that they have everything you’re looking for.

Live casino welcome offers

Our goal is to find online casinos with the best welcome offers and promotions that you can use on all games including slots, table games and live casino games. With additional bonus cash, you can play for longer and have a chance at boosting your wins.

Fast and secure deposits and withdrawals

Secure, safe and speedy banking operations are the core of any online casino. At JohnSlots, we aim to offer you sites that have all this in place. We’ll always tell you if some available payment methods are slower than others so that you can make the best decision.

Responsive customer support

There’s nothing worse than an unresponsive customer support team or none at all. That’s why we strive to ensure you have all the help you need when playing at our approved casinos. We always test out a casino’s means of support to make sure there are no heartless bots lurking behind the scenes.

Safe and secure

Unlicensed casinos are a no go, and we’ll never propose that you use such sites. We’ll always check each casino’s licence, and only those with valid UK Gambling Commission (GC) certification will make it to our list. Another step towards ensuring your safety is checking encryption procedures and proper storage of your personal and financial information.

Using the above criteria, our casino experts have put together a list of only the best online casinos where you can play live roulette knowing you’re in safe hands. All of the casinos added to our list are fully licensed and regulated by the GC and meet our rigorous requirements.

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How Does Live Roulette work?

Unlike other video games, such as slots or video roulette, live roulette is streamed directly from a land-based casino or a particular game developer’s studio. The state-of-the-art technology used by the live casino software developers establishes a HD connection between you and the live dealer, allowing you to interact using special on-screen tools.

Live Chat and Video Function

Each dedicated table has a live chat function enabling you to chat with the game host or other players in real-time making live roulette a social gaming experience. That’s something you won’t get when playing video roulette. You don’t have to interact if you don’t want to and you don’t have to dress up either. The cameras in the studio are for your benefit only. While you can see the live dealer, the wheel and the surroundings, the dealer can’t see you, nor can other players at your table.

Bets and Payouts

When you have found your favourite live roulette game, hit play and start placing your bets using the game settings on your screen. At some casinos, you can even join two tables at the same time.

If the game is in progress on your arrival, wait until the round concludes, and the wins are paid out. As soon as the live dealer announces that the bets are open, you can start placing yours.

Game Rules

Knowing the basic rules will prepare you for the best gaming experience. Before you play, you should always check the table limits and decide on your bankroll. Knowing your boundaries will help you choose the best game for you.

When you know how much you can afford to stake, start setting your bets using the navigational tools displayed on your screen. As mentioned, if the game had already started when you joined the table, you’d have to sit this round out until the dealer opens up a new betting round.

How to Play

You can choose to place inside bets or outside bets. Outside bets are the spots outside the roulette layout – red/black, even/odd, low/high, dozens and columns. Inside bets are the black and red numbers and zeros.

The live dealer will give you some time to place your bets before they spin the ball. You only have limited time, around 15 seconds or less depending on the casino, to place your bets. Once the ball starts to spin around the track the dealer will call ‘no more bets’ with a hand gesture. Everyone at the table then waits for the ball to stop and reveal the winning number.

A tab will be placed on the winning number. If you had chips placed on the winning number, the winning amount will be added to your balance. If you haven’t, the dealer will remove your losing chips from the board. You can then place your bets again or exit the game.

Screenshot of Live Roulette

Live Roulette Bets

Placing bets in live roulette is easy, but you’ll have to think fast. Depending on the type of the roulette you’re playing, you’ll have seconds to decide on your bets before the live dealer closes the round. The great thing about the online live roulette casino game is that you can place multiple bets at a time.

You can choose to bet on any number on the inside or choose any spot on the outside, for example, low or high, black or red numbers, odds or evens. When selecting inside bets, you can either choose a combination of straight-up bets, split bets, corner bets etc. Or place all your money on just one bet, but remember, the inside bets are way riskier than the outside bets as winning chances here are significantly lower.

A couple of side bets are also available in some roulette versions. They are known as a basket bet and a red snake bet which we have explained in more detail below.

Limits

When betting in live roulette, you’ll also have to adhere to the table minimum and maximum rules. You’ll want to know the straight-up min and max bet and the outside min and max bet limits. For example, a straight-up bet can be anything from £0.10 – £500, and the outside chance – up to £10,000. The rule of thumb for the outside bets is that you can not split your outside bet across several spots. If the minimum is £10, you can not divide it into £5 on red numbers and £5 on evens. You have to stake the minimum on either spot.

Payouts & Odds

In the below table, we’ve included some of the most common bets and their payouts. We’ve listed odds for American Roulette first and you’ll notice that they are always slightly lower than European Roulette odds.

TYPE OF BET PAYOUT & ODDS (American/European)
Red/Black Payout: 1:1, Odds: 46.37%/48.6%
Even/Odd Payout: 1:1, Odds: 46.37%/48.6%
Low/High Payout: 1:1, Odds: 46.37%/48.6%
Columns Payout: 2:1, Odds: 31.58%/32.4%
Dozens Payout: 2:1, Odds: 31.58%/32.4%
Straight up Payout: 35:1, Odds: 2.63%2.7%
Split Payout: 17:1, Odds: 5.26%/5.4%
Street Payout: 11:1, Odds: 7.89%/8.1%
Corner Payout: 8:1, Odds: 10.53%/10.8%
Line Payout: 5:1, Odds: 15.79%/16.2%
Basket Payout: 11:1/8:1, Odds: 7.89%
Top Line/5-Number Payout: 6:1, Odds: 13.16%
Snake Payout: 2:1/35:1, Odds: 31.58%/32.43%

Outside Bets

  • Red/Black bet – If you’re betting on a red/black colour on the outside of the roulette setup, you’re betting that the ball will land on any red/black numbers inside the game’s layout. Any red/black numbers will pay 1:1.
  • Even/Odd bet – If you’re betting on even/odd, you’re betting that the ball will land on any even/odd numbers. Any odd/even numbers will pay 1:1.
  • Low/High bet – If you’re betting on low/high, you’re betting that the ball will land on any number between 1-18/19-36. Any numbers in these two sections will pay 1:1.
  • Column bet: There are 3 columns inside roulette’s layout – 1-34, 2-35 and 3-36. If you’re betting on any of the columns, you’re betting for the ball to land on any number inside these columns. Any winning numbers within the column(s) will pay 2:1.
  • Dozen bet: – These are the 3 large chunks of 12 numbers inside the roulette’s layout – 1-12, 13-24, and 25-36. If you’re betting on the 1st 12, you’re betting for the ball to land on any number in that dozen. Identical to the first dozen, you’ll be betting for the ball to land on any number in the 2nd and 3rd dozen if you place your bets on the 2nd 12 or 3rd 12. Any numbers within the dozens pay 2:1.

Inside Bets

  • Straight-up bet – This is a bet on one number only. You can place your chip anywhere on the inside numbers. A straight-up bet pays 35:1.
  • Split bet – If you want to bet more than one number, you can make a split bet which covers two numbers, i.e. 5 and 6, 9 and 12 and so on. Either of these two numbers will pay 17:2.
  • Street bet – This bet covers 3 numbers across the inside layout. It can be 1, 2, 3 or 4, 5, 6, for example. Any of these numbers pay 11:1.
  • Corner bet – This bet covers 4 numbers. Placing your chip in the middle of four numbers, i.e. 1, 2, 4 and 5, pays 8:1 for any of these numbers.
  • Line bet – Also called a double street bet, line bet covers 6 numbers. To bet on a line you’ll want to place your chip on the middle top line, between the numbers 1 and 4, for example. This will cover 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 and pay 5:1.
  • Topline/5-Number bet – This is a combination of 5 specific numbers 0, 00, 1, 2 and 3 which pays 6:1.
  • Basket bet – In American Roulette, this covers 3 specific numbers, 0, 00 and 2 and pays 11:1. In European Roulette, a basket bet covers 0, 1, 2 and 3 and pays 8:1.
  • Snake bet – The snake bet is made up of 12 straight-up bets ‘snaking’ across the inside board. It covers red numbers 1, 5, 9, 12, 14, 16, 19, 23, 27, 30, 32, 34 and pays 2:1 (average) and 35:1 (single number).

Types of Live Roulette

Each time you join an online live casino, most likely you’ll have a choice of more than one type of live dealer roulette. Depending on the size of the games lobby, you’ll see different variants of classic roulette and sometimes exclusive in-house games.

They differ in backgrounds, betting range, speed of play, number of pockets, RTPs and other factors, but they all share the same classic roulette wheel. Here are some of the most popular live roulette options.

Live European Roulette

European Roulette is the foundation of all roulette variants. It’s made up of 37 pockets consisting of 36 numbers and a single 0. Designed by industry-leading game developers and streamed in full HD, Live European Roulette includes a chat function and statistics on players’ favourite bets. Many casinos will allow you to choose from standard to VIP tables 24/7.

Live American Roulette

American Roulette is a roulette variant with an extra double zero (00) added to the game’s layout making it a 38-pocket game. This adds more variety when placing bets compared to European Roulette but watch out for the odds and the game’s RTP. Usually, these stats are a tad lower than the original’s.

Live French Roulette

The main difference between Live European Roulette and Live French Roulette is the La Partage rule meaning ‘sharing’ in French. If you make an even-odds bet and the ball lands on zero, you lose only half your bet. In some instances, French Roulette will also use a slightly different layout with some bets named in French.

Mini Live Roulette

Mini Live Roulette is a smaller version of Live European Roulette. Currently, this variant can be found included in bingo sites and sportsbooks, allowing you to play roulette and place bets on your favourite sports at the same time. Designed by Evolution Gaming and streamed from their cutting-edge studios in Riga, it usually comes in a 200×230 pixel window. You can expand it at any time for a full live casino experience.

Live Lightning Roulette

Developed using the European Roulette layout, the game-show style Live Lightning Roulette has become a big hit among players. This is mainly because aside from regular bets, you also get a chance to boost your wins thanks to the lucky number multipliers. Once all the bets are placed, a lucky number and a lucky payout will be randomly generated. If you’ve placed a straight-up bet on that number, you could win a multiplier of up to 500x.

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How to Play Online Roulette with a Live Dealer

Playing live roulette with real-life dealers is so much more fun than playing video roulette against the computer. You can chat with them, ask them questions and learn more about the game. Here are five easy steps that will walk you through the process of how to get started:

  1. Choose a casino with live dealer games. Before signing up with the casino, you can check what types of roulette variants it offers to make sure they have the game you want to play.
  2. Create an account and make your first deposit to claim the welcome bonus. Check if the casino offers any bonuses on live dealer games. Sometimes casinos offer welcome bonuses on slots or/and live games.
  3. Go to the live casino lobby and choose a roulette table. Browse the selection to see the tables available and look at the table limits to determine your bankroll.
  4. Place your bets. Use the navigational tools on your screen to place chips on the table. The dealer will announce when the bets are open and closed. If you’ve never placed a bet before, you can refer to our ‘Live Roulette Bets’ section above where we explain the inside and outside bets in detail.
  5. Have fun, enjoy the game and use the chat function to ask questions and interact with the live dealer and other players.
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Why Play Online Roulette in a Live Casino?

There are more advantages than disadvantages to playing roulette live. Playing live roulette games hosted by a real-life dealer at an online casino is as close as it gets to a real land-based casino experience. Even better, you don’t need to leave your house to spin the little wheel. And when you’re away from home, you can play it on your mobile.

Other reasons to play it live is the opportunity to play for real money and win real cash. You can also sometimes benefit from match bonuses to boost your initial deposit if you sign up with the right casino. If the casino doesn’t offer welcome bonuses on live games, check if they have any additional promotions running in the background for live casino players.

In many cases, table limits are much lower at live casinos than at land-based casinos, meaning that you can still have fun even with a smaller bankroll. The lower limit tables are a great start if you’re just getting used to playing an online live roulette casino game.

Benefits of Live Roulette infographic

Online vs Live Roulette

Whether you’re thinking of switching from video roulette to live roulette or not sure which games would suit you best, check out the cons and pros for both. In many ways, video and live roulette are quite similar, but they have one key difference – the human factor.

ONLINE ROULETTE LIVE ROULETTE
You’re playing against a computer algorithm and don’t have any interactions. You can interact with the live dealer and other players via the chat function.
You can take your time to place bets and learn the game at your own pace. You have a very limited time to place bets.
You can play for fun. You can only play for real money.
You can use welcome bonuses, promotional offers and bonus money on online roulette games. You will rarely find live casino bonuses that you can use for roulette.
Wide range of video roulette tables. Wider range of live roulette tables & limits.

Best Live Roulette software

Without software developers, there wouldn’t be live games, and it’s only fair for us to acknowledge some of the leading and rapidly growing game studios.

Evolution Gaming

Evolution Gaming live casino banner

Leaders in live games software, Evolution Gaming specialise in providing an unrivalled live casino experience. Their wide selection of mobile-optimised live casino tables, streamed in HD directly from their advanced studios and hosted by professional live dealers, can be found across many top online casinos. Evolution Gaming supplies gaming operators with all of the classics such as Live European Roulette, American Roulette and French Roulette, but they’re best known among players for Lightning Roulette and Immersive Roulette.

Playtech

Playtech live casino banner

Playtech offers a high-end live casino online experience via its wide range of cutting-edge live casino games. Their live dealers are professionally trained at their stunning Riga offices from where they stream their HD games. Powered by HTML5 technology, the developer’s extensive portfolio of live casino games can also be played across all iOS and Android mobile devices. Playtech has ensured that your mobile live casino experience is just as good as the desktop. In their signature Single Zero Roulette and Speed Roulette, for example, they have included a dynamic betting map and sidebar allowing you to see both the dealer and the wheel. They also made it easy for you to place your bets whether you play in portrait or landscape mode.

Pragmatic Play

Live Casino banner for Pragmatic Play

Pragmatic Play is another emerging developer in the live games scene. Better known as slots software providers, they’ve been tapping into their creativity to provide live casino fans with an immersive gaming experience on desktops, mobiles, tablets and VR gadgets. Equipped with multiple 4k quality cameras, some of their best roulette variants include Speed Roulette, Roulette Macao and the latest addition, Mega Roulette.

Best Roulette Bonuses

If there’s one thing that can make playing live roulette games more fun, it’s bonuses. They offer you an extended gaming session and extra rewards. The most common bonuses are either cashback, live casino match bonuses or special cash rewards. But check the bonus terms carefully before claiming.

If you’re not keen on slots, there’s no point in claiming bonuses that can only be used on slots. Just like you wouldn’t claim free spins if you’re planning on playing blackjack or roulette live. Look specifically for live casino bonuses.

Live Casino Bonus Money

If you’re looking to try out some live dealer games then any live casino match bonus is the perfect choice for you. Depending on the offer, you’ll be able to double or triple your deposit and use the extra bonus money on your favourite live games.

You’ll find that some casinos include live casino bonus money in their initial welcome offers or as an independent match bonus exclusively for live casino players. This type of bonus is usually aimed at new players on their first deposit.

Normally bonus money is only reserved for RNG games, such as slots and table games. This is why you should look for live casino bonuses, which is what you want. Minimum depositing amount, wagering and game restrictions will apply and vary from casino to casino.

Cashback

Cashback deals vary from casino to casino and are a great way to get some money back on your losses and carry on playing. For example, some sites might offer you up to 20% cashback when you play specific live table games. Others might be less generous and offer just 5% or 10% real cashback if you don’t win.

Exclusive Offers and Promotions

Many top online casinos with live games treat their returning customers to some extra exclusive live casino offers. These can range from special giveaways and real-time cash prizes to additional fun promotions.

For instance, you could be rewarded with a £5 bonus on top of your win if you bet and win on the number that corresponds with the day of the month. These promotional deals are always changing and often are time-sensitive, so keep an eye on the promotions page or emails from the casino’s marketing team.

To find the best deals for you, check out our top-rated casinos listed below offering some of the best live roulette games and bonuses.

1
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Deposit £20, Play with £50

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Casino Welcome Offer up to €400!

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100% Match up to 300 + 150 Spins

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Welcome Bonus up to 300 + 25 Bonus Spins

6
3

Games

Deposit and stake £50 on Live Casino and get £5 bonus on selected live casino games

Start Playing Roulette in the Best Live Casinos Available at JohnSlots!

Now that you know everything about live roulette, you can start to play this game at your favourite casino. Set your budget, pick a casino from our list, check out their live games lobby and put your knowledge into practice.

While you’re browsing our site, you might also want to check out other pages that have a wealth of information on some of the top software developers, casino bonuses and other interesting topics.

FAQ Section

To clarify any further concerns that you might have about the game, we’ve answered some of the most frequently asked questions by live roulette players below.

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Is live dealer roulette rigged?

The short answer is no. Live dealer roulette is not rigged. As long as you are playing at our recommended casinos, you can rest assured that all live games are fair. Live games are streamed in real-time from a casino’s floor or a game developer’s studio with cameras surrounding the live dealer. Therefore, you can see everything that’s happening at the table.

Can you win money playing live roulette?

Of course. Live roulette is played with real money, and everything you win is paid in actual cash. But we have to stress the importance of playing at a licensed online casino with safe and secure banking procedures.

Can you beat the dealer in live roulette?

Yes, it’s possible to beat the live dealer, but you have to remember that roulette is a game of chance and luck plays a big part in winning the game. However, to increase your chances at winning, you can create your own live roulette strategies or use techniques developed by other players.

Is live roulette legal?

It is legal if you are playing at a fully licensed online casino. To be 100% sure, look for the stamp of approval from the UK Gambling Commission at the footer of each casino’s website. You can also browse our toplist – all our casinos are GC approved for operation in the UK.

Can I play live roulette on my mobile device?

Yes! The technology used in live dealer games links you and the studio via a live-streamed video which works on all devices including mobiles and tablets running on Android or iOS operating systems. You can place your bets and chat to the live dealer in the same way you can on your desktop.

+5 Years of Experience
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Casino Game Specialist

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Harper Gallagher is a respected specialist in online casino games, particularly craps, poker and casino table games. By staying abreast of emerging technologies and trends, she inspires others to pursue their own passions in the exciting world of online casino gaming.

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