Discover which game is better for you. We at Fruity King NZ put together this page to compare two of the most popular casino games, pokies and roulette, whether played online or off.
We shall take a look at the pros of playing pokies and roulette and then make a comparison of the two. This information will make deciding which you prefer in the long term simpler.
Of course, nothing is ever set in stone, but knowing how each game has been set up and how they play through is helpful, especially if you are new to online gambling.
But, first things first. Many different games are available at online casinos, offering a different experience and thrill that appeals to different people.
Suppose you look at online pokies and roulette. In that case, you will notice that both are based on the real-life experience you will get at a land-based casino, but there are differences.
Table of Contents
Online Roulette
Online roulette stays true to the land-based game that inspired it and is one of the games that made a move online without too much trouble.
The roulette table and wheel remain the same online, and players have the same choice of bets as they would at a physical casino if on a night out with friends.
Even though roulette stays true to its roots online, some differences include speed games, and multi-wheel and ball versions of roulette exist. You can also speed up the wheel’s spin or have the wheel spin automatically when playing online.
For those players who love the traditional roulette style, online casino sites like Fruity King NZ provide live online roulette games, the same as roulette you would find in real life.
How Live Roulette Works
Live online roulette is about as close as you will get to walking into the lobby of a real-life casino. Sometimes called live dealer roulette, the game provides the perfect solution for those who enjoy traditional roulette games but do not feel like getting ready to go out to their local bricks and mortar casino.
Live dealer roulette is ideal for enjoying a game online and in person. It works by using streaming technology from a studio or room of the game as it unfolds. Live casino providers like Evolution Gaming provide games that are exciting and fully immersive; live dealer roulette takes place in real-time and has a real live human host who takes your bets from the comfort of your home via your device.
Players can also chat with each other or the dealer (between games) via the live chat option on their screen.
You might have to momentarily wait for a space at a live online roulette table. Still, it is well worth setting aside a little of your bankroll to experience the thrill of these popular games as they mimic the atmosphere of ‘live’ casino play.
It is always a good idea to know the rudiments of roulette before you join a live online game, but do not think you need to be an expert, as you will certainly hear some information on how roulette works from the dealer as they tend to describe what is going on in the game.
Of course, live dealer roulette is more difficult to enjoy when you want to pick up a game or two on the move. This is where games controlled by a random number generator or (RNG) are worth their weight in gold.
The Benefit of Online Pokies
Although online roulette has mostly stayed true to its roots, online pokies are increasingly moving away from the games that inspired them.
The origins of online pokies are the machines that featured only three reels and one payline. You would put your money in a slot, pull the lever to the side of the machine and watch the reels spin. If the symbols matched up on the payline, you would win a certain amount or prize.
The early machine was often called ‘one-armed bandits due to the lever and the fact they took your money.
With the advancement of technology, online pokies are now quite unrecognisable from those early games. However, some ‘classic’ games still played online today mimic the fruit machines of the old games.
Today, many online pokies have unique twists and dynamics that include attributes like cascading symbols, bonus games, scatters, wilds, multipliers, free spins, and the such that would be difficult to emulate on a physical machine.
Another direct influence of the advancement of technology on online pokies is the elaborate graphics, immersive storylines and other additions that make these games so popular with millions of people worldwide.
Advanced technology also plays a part in the variety of games on offer. It allows game developers to realise their creativity when designing a new game.
Almost every genre you can imagine is out there to choose from, with all types of weird and wonderful pokies that far cry away from those real-life pokies machines that inspired them.
Roulette Payouts Versus Online Pokies Payouts
Although millions of people enjoy roulette and which has its roots immersed in the mystery, glitz and glamour associated with lavish venues and beautiful people, to win big at roulette, you will need to bet big too.
The largest prize you can win when playing roulette is 35x your total bet if you choose a ‘straight up’ bet, which is a single number bet with less chance of coming up. You would need to place a substantial amount of chips on that single number for it to pay out well.
Of course, you can place plenty of other bets when playing roulette, but the odds are not as good as the ‘straight up’ bet, so your winnings would be less if you did hit it lucky.
So, although roulette is as popular today as it ever was and is as social as it ever was, you are unlikely to win life-changing cash prizes for a relatively small bet.
On the other hand, many online pokies games have jackpots that are worth 1,000x of the total bet, which means that if you were to strike it lucky for just $1, you could win $1,000 on a single spin.
There are other online pokies which have a progressive jackpot attached to them. Usually, these games are part of a progressive pokies network operated by software giants like Microgaming.
Progressive pokies prizes can run into tens of millions and grow quickly as a small percentage of each bet made goes into the progressive prize pool.
As you can imagine, because many online casinos are open 24/7, players worldwide are playing around the clock, which is why the prizes grow to be worth so much in a relatively short time.
Once a prize has been claimed, the prize pot will immediately begin to grow again, but remember, progressive prizes are not easy to win; it does not happen often.
In Conclusion
There is one other thing to consider when discussing online pokies and online roulette, and that is the house edge. European roulette typically has a house edge of 2.7%. In contrast, online pokies have variable return-to-player percentages, which can begin at 10% and increase, and this is because there are fewer potential outcomes in roulette.
Truly, in the case of ‘is it better to play online pokies or online roulette’, it all does come down to personal choice. The two games are different, each with special features and offers.
If you are after a more traditional-style casino game, then roulette is the game that will suit you the best. On the other hand, if you are after a game which has the potential to offer life-changing cash prizes, progressive pokies would be the way to go.
Luckily, you can try both at Fruity King NZ and decide for yourself.
