Roulette Online
Online Roulette Games
Playing roulette online is simple, once you figure out how to download
casino software, make a deposit, and choose the game option you prefer. The
proliferation of online casinos and casino software firms, along with the
competing gaming jurisdictions and licensing bodies might make online
gambling seem complicated, but it doesn't have to be. I'll explain.
Online Casinos Offering Roulette
An Internet casino website wants to make it as easy for players to gamble at their site as possible, so they are either going to develop their own gambling software, like Party Casino, in which case it's called "proprietary software". In most cases, gaming sites and card rooms license software from online gambling software design companies, which is the case with Golden Palace and most other online gambling sites. In this case, the site is said to be "powered by" software from that company. Below are some of the biggest names in the software casino design business on the Internet.
- Microgaming Software (no U.S. players)
- Playtech Software (no U.S. players)
- Cryptologic Software (no American players)
- Rival Gaming Software (takes US players)
- Realtime Gaming Software (takes US players)
- Vegas Technology Software (takes American players)
I
n certain cases, you'll find a hybrid software set-up, like with Bodog
Casino, which licenses from Realtime Gaming, but also tweaks their software
suite to make it somewhat more proprietary and unique. Other gaming software
firms, like EH New Venture Gaming, own a number of online casino sites, like
English Harbour Casino (which is where the "EH" comes from). In every case,
this software makes it possible for your computer to interface with the
casino, so both you and the casino stay on the same page and in the same
game.
Downloaded Software vs Browser Based Software
Most of the time a player signs up at a casino and plays a game, they prefer to download the casino software and install it on their computer. Once again, this makes it easy to interface with the casino site, and tends to be the fastest, most efficient way to play, usually with the best graphics and sounds. In some cases, you might not want to download the software, or you might not be able to (such as people who own Mac computers or have Linux-based operating systems). In these cases, the casino might offer you the opportunity to play inside the browser without the download.
Browser-based casino games might not be as smooth or fast, but in many cases, work perfectly fine. Usually, the biggest limitation is that certain games might not be available. In either case, having a high-speed Internet connection is going to be helpful, though that's increasingly standard these days.
Casino Licensing
Most virtual casinos are licensed by one of the gambling licensing authorities worldwide. This shows they uphold certain standards of gaming ethics, so you know the games you play are fair. Any online gambler has to wonder when they start to play whether the game is rigged or not, but if an e-casino is licensed by one of the legitimate sanctioning authorities, this indicates there is supervision and auditing going on.
The main licensing authorities in the world are the Government of Antigua and Barbuda in the Caribbean. Antigua and Barbuda are part of the Netherlands Antilles Islands, and therefore subject to Dutch authority. Another key licensing authority is the Kahnawake Gaming Commission. The Kahnawake tribe is a First Nations Tribe traditionally located in Canada, and the KGC servers are found roughly 10 miles outside the city of Montreal, Quebec in Canada. Because Native American reservations in the United States and Canada tend to be considered tribal and not federal/central government land, they inhabit a jurisdictional gray area that allows gambling to go on, even if it's not legal in the provinces or states surrounding that tribal land.
Other licensing bodies include Gibraltar (a British overseas possession) on the tip of Spain and Malta, a tiny island in the Central Mediterranean (south of Italy) which gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1964, but which remains a part of the Commonwealth of Nations and is now part of the European Union. As you can tell, all of these countries or jurisdiction exist on the fringes of European or North American nations--the West--but have special legal autonomy or independence. All are legitimate sanctioning entities which watch over online casinos, because keeping things legal and ethical brings in a lot of revenue for these tiny nations.
Money Methods at Online Casinos
Online casinos try their best to set up a number of options for players to deposit cash and withdraw money from their casinos, to make joining the casino and spending money simple and pain-free. So you'll find most casinos accept credit cards like Visa and Mastercard, and also debit cards. Increasingly, pre-paid gift cards are a preferred deposit method, because they're assured money, so casinos incentivise players to use prepaid gift cards with special initial deposit bonuses for gift cards (more on deposit bonuses later).
Besides the methods above, there are a number of online money transfer companies which specialize in deposit and withdrawals at virtual casinos. Some of the most used include NETELLER, Moneybookers, UseMyWallet, Click2Pay, and Eco-Card. There are numerous others, though.
Withdrawing money is a little slower and harder, but not much so. When it's time to withdraw your funds, it's probably going to take 5 to 10 days for the Security Department of the casino to clear the transaction and get you your money, at least on the first transaction. Subsequent transactions are quicker.
Welcome Bonuses
Every online casino I'm aware of--and there are hundreds of them--try to lure players to their casinos with big welcome bonus promotions, also known as initial deposit bonuses or sign-up bonuses. These used to be somewhere between $50 and $888, but in the past couple of years have swelled into the standard $2,000 range, all the way up to $10,000 and $20,000 initial deposit bonuses.
There are a couple of things you need to know about these, though. First, these are matching funds, so if you want a $20,000 signup bonus, you're going to have to deposit at least $20,000 in the casino. While some still only offer bonuses at 50% what you deposit, most offer 100%, so even if you see a big deposit bonus offered, understand you'll only get what you deposit (which is matched in your account). Deposit $500 and you probably are going to get $500 in matching funds.
To make it easier for players to receive big bonuses, casinos have started offering initial deposit bonuses on their first 2 to 10 deposits, where only a couple of years ago, these were usually only on the first deposit. That's good news, though in the fine print, you'll read that these 10 initial deposits tend to be in the first 30 days or 60 days of membership at a casino--and then the offer expires.
Wagering Requirements
There's other fine print, too. The welcome bonus almost always has a wagering requirement. Before you can withdraw the bonus, you'll have to wager the amount of your deposit plus the matching bonus a certain number of times. Typical is 10 times the bonus plus deposit, 20x the bonus + deposit, or 30x the bonus + deposit.
Since these house edge is going to come into play in many of these cases, when you do the math, you'll find that if your play follows the house edge, by the time you finish meeting the wagering requirements, you'll have probably spent your entire bonus plus deposit. You might view that as sneaky, but a casino has to have a wagering requirement to keep players from running away with free money. Just know what the game is when you play at an online casino.
Casino Roulette Online
Otherwise, roulette online is similar to live roulette--the games are the same. The odds are the same, so European Roulette played online is still a better game (from the player's perspective) than American Roulette. Since most online casinos offer both versions, it's a rare opportunity for U.S. players to enjoy the 2.6% house edge of French Roulette or European Roulette. Since online casinos expect certain American gamblers may not know this fact, American Roulette is still offered, where people are simply throwing money away. Again, it pays to know the facts when playing Roulette online.
Are you more interested in games of skill? Online poker for USA players is one answer.
