Roulette VS Slots – Which Casino Game is Better?

Roulette and Slots are the two most popular casino games globally. Both are easy to learn and allow bettors to win a fortune. However, it might be confusing for players to decide which game to play.

While both games are the definitive eye-catchers in casinos, slots and roulette differ in many ways!

In this article, you will discover which offers better odds, gameplay, and payout.

Rules of Engagement: Roulette vs Slots

There are many games to choose from, whether in online and crypto casinos or brick-and-mortar casinos. Each game has its unique odds, gameplay, and payouts. Yet, roulette and slots attract the most gamblers out of the limitless options of games.

Slots and roulette are excellent options for new and curious players looking to start their gambling journey. These two are the easiest to play, and the payouts are average to excellent!

The question is: which of the two should you bet on, roulette or slots? To help you decide, we did our research to highlight the deciding factors for each game that you must look at, as seen below:

• Game Mechanics and Components
• Odds and Probabilities
• Winning Strategies

Let’s start with the heartthrob of casinos: Roulette

Roulette: The Casino’s Crowd Gatherer

Historians credit French Mathematician Blaise Pascal with unintentionally inventing Roulette. Initially, Pascal tried to create a perpetual motion machine, eventually becoming the roulette wheel we all know and love.

There’s more to learn about roulette. Let’s explore the essential aspects of the game, from gameplay to the best strategies, so you can determine if roulette is the right casino game for you.

Game Mechanics of Roulette

In both live and online Roulette, players must place their bets on numbered squares. After each draw, the player can bet more when the dealer clears the previous round. Roulette’s gameplay revolves around three key factors: the layout, the wheel, and the roulette table.

Let’s first talk about the roulette table.

Roulette Table

The roulette table presents a social set-up wherein gamblers can gather and spectators can watch from an ideal vantage point behind the players. It has two key components: the betting layout and the roulette wheel.

A casino dealer (croupier) facilitates the game. The responsibilities of the croupier include the following:

1. Make sure all bets are placed before the dice are rolled.
2. Collect all losing bets.
3. Compute the odds of winning bets.
4. Monitor the game for cheaters and game disruptors.

Roulette Wheel

The roulette wheel, often called the wheel of fortune, contains numbers from 0 to 36 (00, 0, to 36 for the American version). The numbers are arranged randomly to balance the high, low, odd, and even numbers.

A ball is rolled/dropped to determine the winning number, and a croupier is responsible for spinning the wheel and rolling the ball. All bets have to be placed before the croupier spins the wheel.

There are two varieties of wheels:

• European and French wheels have 18 red and 18 black betting slots and a single green zero.
• American wheels are virtually the same as European and French wheels, but the difference is the extra double green zeros (00).

Roulette Layout

The particular area where players place their bets is called the roulette layout. You can place your bets in any of the squares or combinations in the roulette layout. The layout contains numbers and choices and is arranged into two parts: inside and outside.

• The inside part has 36 numbered squares.
  • The numbers are arranged from 1 – 36 in numerical order from left to right.
  • The 36 numbers are arranged in three columns of 12 spaces each.
  • From 1 -36, the numbers are alternatively colored red and black.
• The outside area has a wide range of numbers and choices.
  • A zero (European version) or a zero and a double zero (American version) is located at the uppermost part of the layout, directly above the first three numbers (1, 2, 3).
  • Three spaces marked “2 to 1” are directly below the inside numbers.
  • Along one side (or on either side in some versions) of the columns are rectangular spaces marked “1st 12,” “2nd 12,” and “3rd 12.”
  • Six more spaces are marked “red,” “black,” “even,” “odd,” “1–18” (low), and “19–36” (high).

How to Bet in Roulette

There are various types of bets that you can place in the roulette layout, with each having its payout. You can refer to the roulette layout image below for better visual reference.

1. Single number bet, aka STRAIGHT UP, pays 35 to 1. This bet can be done by directly placing a chip exactly within a cell of the number of your choosing.
2. Double number bet, aka SPLIT, pays 17 to 1. To make a split bet, put your chip between the two numbers. This can only be done within the inside area.
3. Three number bet, aka STREET, pays 11 to 1. The street bet is done by putting your chip on the rightmost or leftmost section of the three numbers you choose, for example: 1, 2, 3, or 4, 5, 6, and so on.
4. Four number bet, aka CORNER BET, pays 8 to 1. As the name suggests, you can place a chip within the corner of the four numbers you choose to bet on.
5. Five number bet pays 6 to 1. This bet only applies to American roulette, wherein there is both a 0 and 00, making the bet include the following numbers: 0-00-1-2-3.
6. Six number bets, aka LINE BET, pay 5 to 1. The line bet is done by placing your bet bet on the rightmost or leftmost section of the six numbers you choose. For example, if you want to place a line bet on 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, you can put the chip on the right section between 7 and 10.
7. Twelve numbers (dozen bets) pay 2 to 1. The dozen bet is located in the outside area of the layout, indicated by three rectangular spaces: the first 12 (1 – 12), the second 12 (13 – 24), and the third 12 (25 – 36).
8. The Column bet pays 2 to 1. Located in the outside area of the layout, it is usually placed at the bottom, directly below the inside numbers. The column bet has three rectangular spaces that coincide with the numbers directly above each betting space. 
9. 18 numbers (1-18) pay even money or 1 to 1. There are two 18-number bets on the layout: the 1-18 and the 19-36.
10. Red or black pays even money. 
11. Odd or even bets pay even money.

The Winning Odds in Roulette

Based on the mechanics and gameplay, roulette is relatively easy and fun to immerse yourself in. While those reasons alone are attractive enough, gamblers choose Roulette mainly due to the odds that the table game presents.

Roulette is one of the few casino games where the odds are more favorable for the players than for the “house,” especially in the French version. American Roulette has the highest house edge, meaning the chances of winning are slightly lower than those in French and European Roulette.

TYPE OF ROULETTE	HOUSE EDGE	NUMBER OF POCKETS	NUMBER OF ZEROS
American	5.26%	38	Double Zero
European	2.7%	37	Single Zero
French	1.35%	37	Single Zero

Valuable Strategies for Winning in Roulette

Like any casino game, there are no definitive ways to win in Roulette 100% of the time. However, there are strategies that you can employ to pull the luck on your side. Here are the tips to maximize your chances of winning.

1. Place your bet on the outside rather than the inside. These offer more frequent payouts and have a minimum bet. This way, you can bet without losing a lot of money.
2. Choose the roulette version you want to play wisely. The game that offers the smallest House Edge is French Roulette.

Now that we’ve discussed how exciting and glamorous roulette is for gamblers, it’s time to discuss the other side of the competition—the eye-candy of the casino: Slots 🎰!

Slots: The Solo Gambler’s Paradise

The history of slots starts in 1891, with a machine developed by Sittman and Pitt. This machine, the precursor to modern Slot machines, comprised five drums and 50 playing cards. The mechanism involved pulling the lever to line up winning poker hands on the reels.

It was only in 1894 that Charles August Fey created the first actual coin-operated slot machine, a three-reel spinning machine with symbols of diamonds, spades, horseshoes, and liberty bells.

History aside, the allure of the Slot game goes beyond. Let’s learn about the gameplay, mechanics, best features, and strategies, so you can decide if Slots is the game for you.

Game Mechanics of Slots

The Slot game is the most accessible in casinos, whether online, physical, or even its crypto slots version. Regarding playing slots, the gameplay is simple: there are no dealers, no crowds, no cards, dice, or balls. It’s just you and the machine.

But despite their instant gameplay, slots’ appeal comes from their intensity, as slot players fixate on the machine’s core components—the reels, pay lines, symbols, and denominations—all controlled by one vital part, the slot lever.

Slots Reels

Aside from the dazzling lights, the most recognizable part of slots is their reels. Players focus on the reels the most because they display the symbols that form winning patterns.

Bonus Slot Game Feature: Cascading Reels

While we’ve mentioned the simplicity of slot machine gameplay, some innovations have made the game more enticing to players, such as the case with cascading reels. Also called avalanche wins, these types of reels make winning more prevalent.

With cascading reels, symbols that form winning patterns are removed from the reels and replaced with new symbols. This premise creates a re-spin, resulting in more wins and re-triggers if new cascading symbols form more winning combinations.

Slot Payline

The winning lines, aka Paylines, are the combinations of symbols that determine whether the symbols displayed on the reels are a winning combination. Depending on the slot machine, pay line patterns can be zigzag, square, or straight, usually located on the slot’s pay table.

Slot Symbols

The slot symbols are icons on the reels representing the result of the machine’s RNG. When the reels stop spinning, the symbols create a winning or losing pattern that the pay line can determine.

The symbols displayed in a reel depend on the slot machine’s version. Traditional slots display lucky 777s, bars, bells, and fruits. In contrast, symbols in modern slots are based on the machine’s theme.

For example, space or galaxy-themed slots have symbols such as rockets, aliens, and stars.

Winning Odds: The Most Unique Feature of Slots

The chances of winning in Slots heavily depend on a statistical innovation called the Random Number Generator (RNG). RNGs are vital to the gameplay of slots, producing a sequence of random numbers that determine which symbols appear on the reels whenever you pull the lever or push the spin button.

The RNG ensures that each spin is unpredictable and independent. RNGs also ensure that a game’s outcomes are fair and random, a feature achieved through testing and certification by gambling regulatory authorities to ensure that slot games are free from cheaters.

Some Slot Machine versions offer better percentages of winning odds than others. For example, Virtual Slots have an average RTP of 94-97%, meaning the house edge is around 6-3%.

Valuable Strategies for Winning in Slots

1. Find a Slot Machine that gives better RTP and a lot of bonuses. 
2. Bet only on small stakes if you want to entertain yourself while trying to learn. 
3. If you want to win big, put in a larger amount. The bigger the bet, the larger the payout.
4. Do not put all of your bets in one machine. The frequency and the amount of your loss do not affect your probability of winning.

The Match-up: Roulette vs Slots

After looking at each game from an analytical standpoint and seeing what each game offers, and you’re still torn between the two, take a look at how these two games differ in terms of:

• Convenience
• Winnings Odds
• Social Aspect
• Payout Rates

Let’s look at the match-up below and see which game is better.

Slots are Quicker to Play and Easier to Learn

Compared to Roulette, which depends on a live dealer, you can play slots without a dealer. The Slot game has the upper hand in speed and convenience because it has an auto-spin feature that skips the queue and reveals the outcome, which Roulette does not have.

Moreover, the gameplay of slots is comparably more accessible than roulette: just pull the lever or push the spin button, that’s it. Many types of Slots are easy to learn and play, especially for beginners, such as Penny Slots.

Roulette Offers Better Winning Odds.

The odds of winning in Roulette are better than in Slot Machines. The usual Return-to-Player rate in brick-and-mortar casinos is 70% to 90%, lower than that of Roulette. 

The different types of Roulette have an RTP of:

• French Roulette – 98.65%
• European Roulette – 97.3%
• American Roulette – 94.75

Video Roulette has an RTP of 97-99% compared to its online counterparts, which is higher than the average RTP of Online Slot Machines, around 94-97%. 

Slots Provide Larger Payouts and Bonuses

Regarding payout, Slot Machine conquers Roulette by a wide margin. Slots can be played with unique features such as bonus rounds, multipliers, and jackpots, making you an instant millionaire. 

Roulette can provide a payout of up to 35x your bet, while slots can have as much as 80,150x your stake if you play the high-paying slot Mega Fortune. However, remember that each state has gambling rules, making payout rates differ per casino.

Playing Roulette Offers a More Social Experience.

Slot machines are not a social game like roulette. The interaction among players at slot machines is minimal compared to roulette. Table games, such as roulette, are played in multiplayer and social environments—you can sit and play with friends while placing bets in front of a dealer. 

Cashing In Your Chips

Both roulette and slots offer a fun gambling time, are easy to learn, and have great winning odds. When it comes to payouts, Slot Machines provide better rates. However, try Roulette if you want to gamble while experiencing social interaction.

If you’re still undecided, the most effective and proven approach is to try both games and decide which best suits your preferences.