Mini Roulette - Rules and Strategy

Roulette has long been one of the most popular casino games since people love to play both American and European roulette - though the latter is much more liked because it offers a lower house edge. In any case, another roulette game that is catching on these days is mini roulette. As the name suggests, the wheel is smaller, thus creating a new set of rules and strategy for people to learn. This being said, let’s go over some of the basics, payouts and odds behind mini roulette.

The best place to start when explaining mini roulette is with the wheel. A mini roulette wheel contains 13 total numbers that are numbered 0-12. This differs quite a bit from European roulette (37 numbers) and American roulette (38 numbers) since these wheels feature three times as many slots.

One interesting rule worth noting in mini roulette is that some casinos offer players half of their bet back when the ball lands on 0. Another thing players should know in regards to rules is that some casinos don’t impose betting limits with mini roulette; this works well for those who like to use risky negative progression systems like the Martingale.

As far as bets go, many of them are the same as other roulette versions since you’ll find straight (one number), split (two joining numbers), street (three numbers in a row), corner (placed in the middle of four numbers), sixers (six numbers), column (one of three columns), red/black, high/low and odd/even wagers. Here’s a quick look at the casino payouts for each of these bets:

If you’re familiar with European and American roulette payouts, you’ll notice that mini roulette features very different casino payouts. And differences are a typical theme as we head into the subject of mini roulette strategy.

When it comes to mini roulette strategy, the number one piece of advice to follow is making sure you find games that award half bets back when the ball lands on zero. The reason why you need to do this is because the house edge is an enormous 7.69% when casinos don’t give players half their bets back. This is much worse than both the European (2.63%) and American (5.26%) house edges.

On the other hand, playing at casinos that do pay half back when bets lose on zero reduce the mini roulette house edge down to 3.85%. Sure this isn’t going to put the game on par with blackjack or video poker in terms of low house edges, but it’s not bad when compared to other casino games.

Aside from this piece of advice, another thing you might consider is taking advantage of the higher table betting limits (if there are any). Those who like to use negative progressions like the aforementioned Martingale or Labouchere will find this game right up their alley since there’s no ceiling on bets. So even if you lost 8 wagers in a row, you wouldn’t run into a table limit on the 9^th bet when doubling wagers with the Martingale. Just make sure that you have the bankroll to cover doubling bets after losses!

In the grand scheme of things, there are better casino games out there when it comes to finding low house edges. However, if you follow the strategy mentioned above this section, you can at least make mini roulette a decent game to play. Plus it’s a fun break from the regular lineup of games that you find at most casinos.