Playing Roulette with No Dealer

Not all casinos offer standard roulette tables, but more and more are bringing in a good substitute - roulette without a dealer.

Some states got casino gambling legalized by asking for just games like 21, you know, with cards, like the poker games they already had - and it worked. Unfortunately, that left a lot of us who love craps and roulette without our favorite games.

Now I'm sorry, but there is no substitute for a real craps game - not an animated game that is really a slot machine, and certainly not the silly game played with cards. Sorry - it's not craps. However, the new roulette games are very good.

IGT has a very popular roulette game that is used (oh, it's a slot - wink, wink) in many jurisdictions, and it's the same 5.26 percent house edge game (double zero and single zero). Their Roulette Evolution game is an actual roulette wheel, standard size, with a camera on it and an automatic spinner.

The ball spins just like a standard wheel, it just does so without a dealer, and under glass. Players bet via their video consoles and have all the regular aspects of roulette plus a few new ones.

The game is happening right in front of you and you can watch the wheel. You just have to make all your bets before the timer goes off and the ball starts spinning.

Game histories are displayed via onscreen Trends button and the large-screen LCD. You can even make series or racetrack bets like finales, grand series, 0-series, orphans (orphans) and tiers.

Alfastreet roulette was introduced to the casinos in Delaware a couple years ago and is found in several other states. Personally, I like their game set up because you sit directly in front of the wheel. The terminals are all in a square with the wheel in the middle. Same regular casino odds.

Don't get these actual wheels with a video bet terminal confused with games like the Bally roulette video slot. Sure that's a roulette game, but no wheel, just a video - and the payoffs are not the same. Why play the video when it only pays 32-1 straight up instead of the (very) standard 35-1 on a real wheel?