Most people know that there are 3 main variants of roulette that all other games are based off of; European, French, and American.
One of these, the American variation, has an extra slot on the wheel, the double zero or 00. This increases the house edge and also makes the wheel a little bigger to accommodate the extra space, but it is nothing compared to what some roulette variants have done.
Some online games have made the wheel smaller, some have removed it altogether, and others have changed the shape entirely in a way that would be impossible in the real world. There are even wheels within other wheels to allow for extra game features.
This is an example of the extra possibilities the internet has given us when it comes to playing roulette.
Roulette wheels in the real world have been tinkered with as well though, albeit in a different way. There are computerised roulette wheels that can do the job of a croupier by using jets of air to spin the ball, for example.
100/1 Roulette
This is roulette with 100 numbers instead of 36, as well as an additional 5 spaces represented by different shapes.
This means that there are effectively 105 numbers on the wheel, with the zero (or zeroes if you are used to American roulette) being replaced by these five shapes, thus increasing house edge.
The wheel itself has had to be adapted to contain all of these extra spaces, so it is an oval shape instead of a circle. It does not spin, but rather the ball will travel around the oval independently before coming to a stop.
The payout for a straight up bet is 100/1 which is where the game's name comes from, and it sounds attractive at first, but the chances of landing one are also much lower than with regular roulette, and the extra spaces on the wheel created by the shape symbols makes the payout for them less generous.
Slingshot Roulette
Although not all that different to a regular roulette wheel at first glance, the Slingshot Roulette Wheel is unusual in its design.
This is actually a standard version of the European game variant, so the game itself is the same as normal, but there is no croupier to set the game in motion.
How is this possible? The wheel is automated, running on electricity, so it is set to spin at timed intervals on a never ending loop; the ball the propelled from the last pocket back onto the wheel for each spin by tiny air jets hidden in the bottom of each pocket.
In this way, the game can play itself without the need for human interaction, and players can make bets as normal.
Mini Roulette
Mini roulette is fairly self explanatory.
You will immediately notice that both the wheel and the betting board are much smaller than usual, and this is because there are fewer numbers included; just 1-12.
This means the wheel is one third the size of a regular game of European roulette, and the payouts have been reduced to reflect this.
In all other ways it is the same game, it has simply been shrunk.
Pinball Roulette
The unusual thing about the wheel in this roulette game is that there isn't one.
The game has been completely redesigned to resemble a pinball machine, and the ball is released as the ball would be in one of those machines, ping ponging it's way down to the bottom of the board.
Here, the roulette numbers are scrolling horizontally across the bottom and the ball will eventually fall into one of the pockets.
There is a gamble feature after every win too where you can try for a multiplier worth up to 10x, but you could also lose the lot so it is an extra risk.
Astro Roulette
This is roulette with a facelift, as the numbers have been replaced with signs of the zodiac, and therefore the bet types have had to be changed too.
It's essentially just roulette that is one third of the normal size and with different decoration plus reduced payouts, but the wheel undoubtedly looks different, despite the fundamentals of the game not changing.
Not only is it much smaller and with astrological symbols instead of numbers, but each symbol has 3 pockets on the wheel, so in effect a straight up bet can win from 3 different pockets.
Roulette Diamond
The Diamond Roulette wheel is not actually a wheel at all, but a diamond. Not only that, it has extra numbers on it to allow for the diamond shape.
This also creates different bet types such as horizontal, vertical, and diagonal lines, quarters and halves of the board, plus the usual red/black, odd/even, straight ups etc.
The betting board looks different too, and it's also possible to bet directly onto what would normally be the wheel; the area in which the game plays out.
This is probably the most unique roulette variant we have ever seen, although the fundamentals of the game have remained the same.
101 Roulette
This gigantic version of roulette is obviously very different even at a glance, being almost 3 times the size of a normal game of European roulette.
The wheel is actually more like an oval shape, and it contains 100 numbers instead of the usual 36, as well as a zero and the suits from a deck of cards; hearts, spades, clubs, and diamonds.
All of the regular bets are included and despite there being new additions to the betting board they do not throw up extra bet types, acting just like additional zeroes really.
The payouts have been altered though, with straight ups being worth 100:1 and splits being worth 49:1 amongst other changes, to better reflect the chances of a win with so many extra numbers on the board.
Spread Bet Roulette
You will notice an extra wheel that spins inside the regular roulette wheel in Spreadbet Roulette, and as well as being able to bet on the regular game, you can also bet on the total of two numbers.
The ball will land on the roulette wheel as normal, but the number on the extra wheel which lines up with the winning number on the regular roulette wheel will be added to it to create the spreadbet total.
You can bet on various different ranges of this total (19 to 33, 34 to 54 etc.) and they all have different payouts based on their probability, from 1:1 to 400:1.