James GordanTable of Contents
The introduction of online casinos has changed the scope of gambling forever. Once upon a time, you could only play games like slots, poker, blackjack, roulette, and baccarat at the brick-and-mortar.
However, it’s an entirely different story now. Thanks to modern digitization, it is now possible to play online casino games on your mobile devices, from anywhere and at any point in time.
The truth is there are thousands of games available online, each having its own strengths and drawbacks. As a result, if you’re new to the online casino world, it can be quite unclear what type of game you love to play. Some games offer more rewards, some better odds of winning, and some thrill and excitement.
Slots and roulette are two of the most popular and classic games in the United States, and they both have a large following. And for newbies, choosing which to go for or major in can be pretty difficult.
If you’re still trying to wrap your head around the pros and cons of these two games, we’ve got you covered. In this article, we examine the differences between both games and how they compare with each other. Be rest assured that you’ll find your preferred pick at the end of this read.
Real-Life Experience
Like almost every other casino game, slots and roulette are spin-offs of their real-life versions. However, slots have increasingly become more modified and different from real-life models, while online roulette developers have considerably stayed true to the game’s physical model.
On both digital and land-based roulette, you can find the same wheel, table, and general color and number features. The chances of winning and the overall cashouts are relatively the same on both versions, except for a few modifications like themes, graphics, and spin speed, which really have little to no impact on the feel of the game.
As a matter of fact, live dealer roulette gives a closer feel at real-life for virtual players. Playing live roulette is like taking a trip to the brick-and-mortar without stepping foot out of your house. It can be that vivid. In live roulette, players get to interact with real humans while betting virtually. The game comes with enhanced features like webcam streams, chat boxes, and special buttons that aid effective communication between the player, a live dealer, and other fellow players.
Most roulette players prefer live dealer roulette to digital versions of the game bettors because of its interactive features.
Slots, on the other hand, is a one-man’s game, and you’ll find many online slots with shapes or forms that shy away from the machines you’ll see at land-based casinos. So, when it comes to real-life feel, roulette takes the crown here.
Variety
Slots may have taken the L for a real-life feel, but it beats roulette hands down when it comes to variety. Roulette is pretty straightforward and has a defined format: all versions of the game have a wheel, a betting table, and a ball.
The goal of the game is also the same: predict where the ball lands on the wheel after spinning. As a result, there aren’t many modifications developers can make to influence the game.
However, the same cannot be said about slots. You’ll hardly find online slots that have all the same features as the original land-based slots. Before digitization, a typical slot machine had three reels and one pay line.
The goal of the game was to spin the reels and predict the symbol that matched the outcome of the spin. And while this is still the same primary objective of every slot, different gaming companies have delved deep into their creative bags to incorporate various dynamic features, like additional reels, extra pay lines, and new symbols that are in contrast with real-life machines.
Each online slot game also has its own unique theme, animations, soundtrack, winning combinations, and other features that amuse slot lovers. Nowadays, you’ll find a plethora of online slots that are totally different from the physical models that inspired their creation.
Bonuses and Incentives
Online slots and roulette also differ greatly in the way they reward players. Since roulette is more in touch with its real-life form, the largest payout you can earn from a betting session is 35× your initial bet, and that is if you place a Straight Up bet and win (straight-up bets simply means wagering on a single number).
While both online and real-life roulette offers many types of bets, none is more rewarding than the Straight Up bet. For instance, betting on a row in American roulette can only reward you as much as 17/1 of your initial bet.
Players who bet on even money outside bets will earn just double their initial wager if it comes in. This implies that it is impossible to win life-changing sums from small bets on any roulette table. In comparison, the story is very much different from online slots. Players can earn massive rewards by placing tiny bets.
The internet is filled with legitimate slot jackpots that can reward you more than 1000× your initial bet, and the fact that you don’t have to break the bank makes it even more fascinating. Some slot machines accept as low as $1 bets for a potentially life-changing sum in exchange.
As if that isn’t incredible enough, some slots come with progressive jackpots that can earn you even more massive rewards. Progressive slots are like a network of betting sessions that takes a small portion of your bet and adds it to a betting pool. Hitting the jackpot with this pool could have you dancing your way into the bank to the tune of tens of millions of dollars.
Chances of Winning and Volatility
Slots may be the more rewarding game, but the chances of winning are much low compared to roulette. Yes, you can earn thousands or even millions of dollars from small bets on slots, but don’t get too excited; this doesn’t happen so often. Slots don’t pay out $10 million dollars every single day.
Roulette, on the other hand, offers much better odds, but this is not to say that you’re always guaranteed to win as well. European roulette, for example, offers the online casino a 2.7% house advantage because of players.
This is hinged on the fact that players don’t stand a 50/50 chance of winning on even-money bets. An even money bet is a bet on red or black or odd or even numbers. Here’s how the roulette edge is calculated. The European roulette wheel features a single digit zero (0) in green colors and numbers 1 to 36 (18 red and 18 black).
Assuming a bet was placed on red and black at an instant, the player will break even unless the ball lands on the single zero digits. And if the ball lands on a zero, the player automatically loses all even money bets. As a result, roulette cannot offer a 50/50 house advantage.
As for slots, the house edge is generally much higher (about 9% or more) than roulette, although each slot game has its own casino advantage. In addition, there are many potential outcomes that can be achieved in slots.
This means the game’s advertised house edge or return-to-player percentage may not be achieved in the immediate but in the long run. For roulette, however, payouts can be much more achieved in alignment with the house edge advertised by the casino since there are fewer possible outcomes.
It may take lots of spins to achieve the intended house edge, but fewer spins compared to slots. This makes roulette the more favorable game in terms of winning odds and the least volatile with respect to potential outcomes.
It All Depends on You
As you can now see, both games are different in their own right. They both possess distinct characteristics that appeal to different players.
If you’re all about playing games for the thrill of it and betting small for potentially huge rewards, then the slot will be your preferred pick. But if you’re all about winning odds and having a real-life feel to your virtual gaming experience, you’ll find roulette more appealing.
Of course, you can try out the two games. You just might end up being a fan of both. There are hundreds of slots and roulette available on online casinos, and you can try out demo versions before staking real money.
James Gordan
