Roulette is a popular casino game in US casinos, although Florida is something of an exception. That’s because roulette is not a legal game for Florida casinos to offer. You can’t play online roulette for real money in Florida, either, although you can play the game at social and sweepstakes sites if you like.
This overview of roulette in Florida covers the legal situation concerning the game and provides further information about how to play, and where to find the best online roulette casinos for FL players.
Is roulette legal in Florida?
Live roulette is not legal in Florida. The Seminole Tribe of Florida does have a Class III gambling compact with the state that enables the tribe to offer various casino games, including blackjack, other card games, and slot machines. However, the compact specifically excludes roulette from the “covered games.”
As the compact negotiated in 2010 states, while the agreement allows other games, “nothing gives the Tribe the right to conduct roulette, craps, roulette-styled games or craps-styled games.” That’s why when you enter the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood or other tribal casinos in the state, you don’t see any roulette tables on the casino floor.
However, the compact goes on to note that “nothing herein is intended to prohibit the Tribe from operating slot machines that employ video and/or mechanical displays of roulette wheels.” Thus you will sometimes see electronic roulette games in Florida casinos, but no live roulette games.
In 2015, a revised compact would have added roulette and craps to the list of legal games at Seminole-owned properties. However, the Florida Legislature never approved the new compact.
In 2021, the tribe and state negotiated another compact. This time, Florida lawmakers did approve it, and the Federal Register even published it. The new compact allowed the Seminole Tribe to add new types of gambling, including sports betting, craps and roulette. However, in November 2021, a federal judge ruled the new compact violated the law, which meant it was vacated and the tribe and state essentially had to revert to the old one.
That ruling is under appeal, and if it gets overturned, Florida casinos will likely soon introduce legal live roulette. For now, though, roulette remains a prohibited game.
Online roulette games in Florida
Florida also does not allow online gambling for real money, which includes roulette. However, there are social and sweepstakes casinos where Floridians can legally play various casino games using virtual currencies, including online casino roulette. Some of these sites even have ways for players to redeem their winnings for real cash prizes.
One such sweepstakes site is Chumba Casino, and in fact Chumba offers roulette as one of its available casino games along with slots and a few other options.
Seminole social casinos in Florida
You can also play online roulette for fun and entertainment at the Seminole Tribe’s online social casinos.
There are two of them — the Seminole Social Casino and the Hard Rock Blackjack & Casino — and both are similar in terms of game selection and design. You can play either on your computer or via apps for either Android or iOS devices.
Both of these social casinos feature a free online roulette game with 3D graphics. While you can’t play for real money, you can link the games to your Seminole Wild Card account and accumulate casino rewards as you play.
How to play roulette
Roulette is one of those casino games that is simple to play, although once you learn more about it you realize it exhibits a kind of complex elegance with all the different ways you can bet. There’s something pleasing aesthetically as well about the spinning wheel and the red, green and black board on which you place your bets.
Upon taking a seat at the table, you first purchase chips from the croupier who runs the game. Roulette tables usually have their own special chips, meaning you can’t necessarily bring casino chips over from another game and play with them. You’ll play with these roulette chips, then exchange them for casino chips afterward, which you can then cash out before leaving.
Usually, the croupier will spin the wheel, and while it spins, players place chips on the board to indicate their bets. At some point the croupier will announce that betting has closed. Then everyone watches the wheel slow and stop, with the ball landing in one of the numbered slots. The croupier then settles the bets and spins the wheel again.
European roulette vs. American roulette
Roulette dates back to 18th-century France before making it over to America during the 1800s. That history has produced a couple of distinct versions of the game:
- European roulette
- American roulette
Originally, the game in France featured a wheel with numbered slots from 1 to 36, with half the numbers on red spaces and the other half on black. There were also two more slots with a zero and double-zero (0 and 00). That’s the game that made it over to America. Later, though, Europe made a single-zero roulette wheel its standard, and that remains the primary difference between the two versions.
Here’s the European version of a roulette wheel and board, with a single zero:
And here’s the American version of roulette that features both 0 and 00:
It might seem like a minor difference, but that extra zero affects the odds and payouts in the game. Generally speaking, European roulette offers players better odds for most bets than does American roulette.
Both the Chumba Casino roulette game and the roulette games on the Seminole social casino apps feature the American version of the game with both 0 and 00.
Different ways to bet in roulette
So how do you bet in roulette? First, don’t be fooled by anyone arguing there is a “system” to win roulette. It is perhaps one of the purest “gambling” games there is — all luck, no skill. Even so, if you know the different bets and how roulette odds work, you can at least be informed and manage your risk more effectively.
Roulette bets are often grouped into two categories: inside bets and outside bets. These categories refer to where you place your chips on the board, either inside the main box or on the outside. For the most part, inside bets have longer odds (and bigger potential payouts). Outside bets, meanwhile, are more conservative and pay less, but they have a better chance of winning.
Here are examples of inside bets (with their payouts):
- “Straight up” bets on single numbers (a winning bet pays 35-to-1).
- “Split” bets on two numbers; place chip(s) on the line between them (17-to-1).
- “Street” bets on a row of three numbers (11-to-1).
- “Corner” bets on four numbers; place chip(s) on the intersection between them (8-to-1).
- “Basket” bets, aka five-number bets on 0, 00, 1, 2 and 3 (6-to-1).
- “Line” or “double-street” bets, aka six-number bets on two rows of three numbers each (5-to-1).
And here are some outside bets (also with their payouts):
- “Dozens” bets on the first 12 numbers (1-12), the second 12 (13-24) or the third 12 (25-36) at once (winning bet pays 2-to-1).
- “Column” bets on a column of 12 numbers (2-to-1).
- “Red” or “black” bets, each of which is on 18 numbers (1-to-1).
- “Odd” or “even” bets, also on 18 numbers (1-to-1).
- “High” or “low” bets on either 1-18 or 19-36 (1-to-1).
As you can see, the potential payouts are lower for outside bets, but your chances of winning those bets are greater than they are for inside bets.
What is the house edge in roulette?
If you’re paying close attention, you might have noticed how each of these payouts doesn’t exactly equal the probability of winning. There’s a reason for that — the house edge.
As an example, in American roulette there are those two zeroes, the 0 and the 00, which are neither red nor black (they are usually painted green). If you bet on “red” and win, you double your money. But you don’t have a 50% chance of winning your bet, since there are 18 red numbers among 38 total spots (18 / 38 = 47.37%). The house has about a 52.63% chance of winning, which means the house has a 5.26% edge over you every time you place one of these bets (52.63% – 47.37% = 5.26%).
The house edge is about the same for almost all the bets, both inside and outside. However, your variance will be less if you stick to outside bets. That is to say, you’ll win more often although the roulette payouts won’t be as big. But you’re still playing a game in which the house has an edge.
Incidentally, one of the above bets has a much greater edge for the house than others, the “basket” bet, where you bet on five numbers — 0, 00, 1, 2 and 3. For that one, the payout is low enough that the house edge is actually close to 7.9%.
Betting limits in roulette
Much like with blackjack or other table games, you’ll see betting limits at the roulette table. If you’re playing roulette online, those limits will also appear on the screen. These limits represent the minimum and maximum you can bet. However, when you bet on roulette, there is an important distinction between outside and inside bets.
For outside bets, your bet must be at least the minimum. Thus, if the minimum is $25, you would have to bet at least $25 when you bet on red or black, odd or even and so on.
However, for inside bets, you can divide your wager into smaller amounts as long as the bets total the table minimum. Thus if the minimum is $25, you could place five $5 bets (say, one each on a separate number), and that would be fine.
Florida roulette FAQ
Why does the Florida tribal-state compact not allow roulette?
When Florida and the Seminole Tribe negotiated what became the 2010 compact that ultimately received approval in the Legislature, lawmakers allowed slots and card games but not games involving dice or roulette wheels.
The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act that authorizes tribes to negotiate compacts with states to offer casino games requires the games to be legal in the state for the tribes to be able to offer them. Therefore, until Florida lawmakers legalize roulette or craps, the Seminole Tribe cannot offer those games. As noted above, Florida lawmakers did approve a compact in 2021 that would have made roulette legal in tribal casinos, but a subsequent ruling vacated that new compact.
Incidentally, such a distinction between different casino games exists in states such as California, where roulette and craps are also not available in tribal casinos. However, tribal casinos in California have come up with workarounds using cards instead of the prohibited dice and wheels (e.g., “California roulette”).
Can more than one person in a roulette game bet on the same number at the same time?
Yes. Just because one player has chips on a particular number or in a particular spot on the table, that doesn’t mean others can’t make the same bet.
When a croupier spins a roulette wheel, do the ball and wheel both travel in the same direction?
No. Typically, the wheel spins clockwise, and the ball travels counterclockwise around the edge of the wheel.
What is the “Martingale system” of betting in roulette?
The Martingale system is a betting strategy in which a gambler who loses an even-money bet (aka a coin flip) then doubles the wager and bets again. If the gambler loses a second time, the strategy dictates doubling the wager once more and trying again (and so on). Theoretically, the strategy ensures recovering one’s losses eventually, although it assumes an infinite bankroll that can withstand a long losing streak. The “system” sometimes comes up in roulette with regard to those outside bets that pay 1-to-1 such as betting on red or black.
Of course, as discussed above, the house still has an edge when you make these bets. Also, players should be wary of falling prey to the idea that any “system” exists to ensure success in a purely random game like roulette.
Why is roulette called “The Devil’s Game”?
If you add up all the numbers on a roulette wheel from 1 to 36, they total 666 (no kidding!). Since that represents the “number of the beast” as described in the Book of Revelation, some have taken this bit of trivia as a reason to call roulette “The Devil’s Game.”