What’s better for your casino bankroll, electronic or live roulette games?
I’m a strong advocate of playing casino games online. I know, some say they’re too quick, or that you don’t get the same social entertainment aspect. But those don’t have to be negatives. I find them both advantageous at times. I rarely have time to visit a land-based casino, but I can play a few games on my smartphone during lunch. Being among friends is always uplifting, but when the guy next to you smells like a brewery and yanks your sleeve every time he wins a bet, being alone doesn’t seem so bad.
Then again, there are also times when playing live casino games is more beneficial than staring at a computer or mobile screen. As much as iGaming advocates like myself boast that online games are cheaper, and/or offer better payouts – I’ve said it myself countless times – there’s something to be said for the more expensive, but slower playing style of a crowded roulette table.
Electronic vs Live Roulette: What’s Better For Your Casino Bankroll?
Most people who have experienced the costly table limits of live casino roulette, and the cheaper variety of RNG-based online roulette games, will immediately point to the latter as the best choice for extending a bankroll. But is this really the case? It honestly depends on how you play roulette.
Speed and cost are the major factors here. We have to take both of these numbers into account in order to determine which method of playing roulette is actually the most costly.
Before I go further, I should point out that the variation of roulette you play is critical. If the only option in a live casino is American Roulette, don’t play it! The house edge is 5.26%. It’s only recommended to play European Roulette (2.7% edge) or, when available, French Roulette with the La Partage rule (1.35% edge).
For the purpose of our “live vs. online” comparison, we’ll use the most commonly available and preferred European roulette game.
Live vs Electronic Roulette Cost
At a land-based casino with a moderate size crowd of 8 players, you can expect the table limits to offer $10 minimum bets, with an average of about 35 games played per hour. Let’s do the math…
$10 x 35 = $350 bet per hour
$500 x 2.7% edge = $9.45
By this calculation, probabilities state you’ll lose $9.45/hr at the live roulette tables.
Playing online with $1 minimums and no other players to slow the game down, you can expect to spin the wheel an average of 3 times per minute, or 180 times per hour – if you let it come to a complete stop on its own. In this case, you’re looking at…
$1 x 180 = $180 bet per hour
$180 x 2.7% edge = $4.86
Here, probabilities say you’ll lose $4.86/hr playing the cheapest online roulette games.
By this comparison – unless you can find casino roulette tables with minimums of $5 or less – electronic roulette games are the cheaper way to go. But first, ask yourself…
What Kind of Roulette Player are You?
If you’re the type to get in “the zone”, clicking away as quickly as possible on an electronic roulette game, your bankroll is at high risk for rapid depletion, even at $1 minimums. I’ve known people who play roulette on their mobile, and as soon as they finish placing their bets (often by simply tapping the Rebet button), they double tap the Spin button – once to get it moving, and again to bring it to an immediate halt, revealing the winning number/color. Playing this quickly can result in as high as 10 plays per minute, or 600 bets per hour!
$1 x 600 = $600 bet per hour
$600 x 2.7% = $16.20
Theoretically, this player would be losing $16.20 per hour; nearly twice that of a live casino player betting $10 per hand.
The dangerous nature of speed-gambling isn’t just that a player’s bankroll could be swallowed up in a few minutes flat. It’s that the player is exhibiting severe warning signs for “at-risk” behavior. If you find yourself too impatient to wait for the wheel, you should restrict yourself to land-based casino roulette, or at least play live casino roulette games online, where real croupiers handle the games for real players at home.
Don’t become a statistic! Understand the difference between electronic and live roulette games, what kind of player you are, and how it impacts your casino bankroll. Only then can you make wise decisions about the best ways to enjoy the experience.
