Mentally compare slots and roulette, and you’ll probably come up with totally different associations. If you go to a land-based casino, you’ll notice that slot machines are fast, noisy and visually thrilling, while roulette is a sophisticated table game with its own traditions and playing etiquette. Slots and casino table games are usually hosted on different areas of the casino floor, so slot players and roulette players may not even mix. As online casino games, however, roulette and slots have quite a lot in common. They’re both fun, accessible (very often on the same casino site,) easy to play and potentially rewarding, so what’s to choose between them? Not much, is the answer players increasingly give, as slot fans and roulette lovers cross over online. Ultimately, which one you choose depends on your personal style. Let’s take a look at how online slots and roulette compare.
Easy rules
The most obvious thing that slots and roulette have in common is how accessible they are. It’s country-simple and straightforward to learn how to play these casino games! All you have to do to play online slots is choose a game, select your betting level and press Spin. Then it’s time to sit back and enjoy the spectacular visuals as the reels revolve.
Roulette isn’t much more complicated. You simply place your bets on the table before the dealer calls out “No more bets!” Then the dealer spins the roulette wheel one way, spins the little ball the other way, and everybody waits in suspense until the ball lands in one of the colored, numbered slots on the wheel (which correspond with the grid of bets on the table.) If your number comes up, you win! There is one key difference between roulette and slots: You have to place your bets between each spin of the roulette wheel, whereas the auto-spin feature on most slots takes care of that for you (if you so wish.)
Mobile gameplay
Another thing slots and roulette share is that you can play them both on your mobile. In fact, mobile-compatible online slots and virtual roulette games have been around for quite some time. Adding to these gaming possibilities are live dealer games. That’s right – these days, it’s possible to play authentic casino table games such as roulette, poker, blackjack and more without traveling to a land-based casino. The gameplay is streamed in HD from a studio or real casino with a dealer hosting the action – it’s as if you’re playing at a live casino but online!
Betting options
One of the attractions of roulette as a casino game is the tremendous variety of betting options it has to offer. The table layout is divided into 37 numbered spaces – 38 for American roulette – which generates a broad spectrum of possibilities. You can bet “straight up” on one or more single numbers, or you can wager on combinations of numbers – thirds, dozens, columns, highs or lows, odd or even and so on. You can even bet on whether the ball lands on red or black, without specifying numbers. You can also make so-called “inside bets,” which cover different patterns. Split bets, street bets, snake bets and basket bets are just a few of the options. Then there are call bets, which cover a series of numbers in specific sections of the wheel. Two examples are neighbors (numbers closest to zero) and Zero Game (two adjacent numbers on either side of the specific number.)
By comparison, slots have far fewer betting options – or do they? Well, it’s true that slot players don’t have to make as many choices. Some slots do have adjustable paylines (meaning it’s up to you to decide how many of them to activate,) but on the whole, the only betting decision you have to make is your betting level. Once you hit Spin, the game does the thinking for you. At the same time, slots may offer more ways to win than roulette. The table game only has 37 or 38 possible outcomes, but the latest slots such as Bonanza Megaways offer up to 117,649 potential ways to win.
Odds
If online slots offer more ways to win, roulette games typically come with slightly better odds, depending on what bets you make. In French roulette, for example, the house edge is as low as 1.35%, thanks to the La Partage rule, which halves your loss if you make an even bet (red or black, high or low, odd or even) and the ball lands on zero. That translates into an RTP (return to player) of 98.65%.
Virtual slots, on the other hand, typically have an RTP of 94-97%, as determined by their RNGs (random number generators.) That means you can expect a house edge ranging from 3-6%. Clearly, the odds of winning at roulette are slightly more in favor of the player. If you’re looking to minimize risk when you play casino games, roulette may have the edge, but it depends on your betting strategy. (Note too, that land-based slot machines tend to have lower RTPs than their online equivalents.)
Number of variants/available titles to play
If variety’s the spice of life, then slots might just win the day. There are literally hundreds of online slots out there, with more titles appearing every month. That’s not to say that roulette doesn’t have different variants. In addition to classic French roulette, there’s European roulette (like French but without La Partage) and American roulette, which has a second zero pocket, giving a slightly higher house edge. On top of that, there are some interesting variations that you can play live at a casino online. One of the most intriguing is Double Ball roulette, where the dealer uses a special device to spin two balls at once. Then there’s Lighting Roulette, which is a game-show-style version of European roulette that comes with randomly generated prize multipliers.
But nothing can compare with slots for sheer variety. Ancient Egypt, Norse mythology, horror, movies, music, adventure, aliens, animals, sports – these are just a few of the slot themes available, and every theme has dozens of games, all jostling for your attention. If you’re looking for straight-up entertainment that comes with chances to win real money, slots may be the best casino games for you.
Payouts
One area where slots and roulette games part company is payouts. The highest payout you can hope to win in roulette is 35x your stake – and that’s if you win a straight-up bet at 37/1! Slots tend to be much more generous when it comes to payouts. Special features such as bonus rounds, free spins, multipliers and jackpots can make for huge potential wins. Take a slot like Wheel of Fortune Megaways, with a maximum win of 80,150x your stake. Then there are the progressive jackpot slots, with potentially life-changing payouts in the millions (although these massive wins happen very rarely.) The plain truth is that potential slot payouts put roulette in the shade. But don’t forget there’s never any guarantee you’ll win, and always keep the house-edge difference between slots and roulette in mind. Ultimately if you put the “will-I-won’t-I-win” question to one side and concentrate on pure enjoyment, you should end up choosing the game that gives you the most pleasure, regardless of the outcome.
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