Roulette and Poker are two of the most-loved casino games that can be found at both land-based casinos and online gambling venues. While both Poker and Roulette are primarily casino table games, each of them has its own set of rules and tends to appeal to different types of casino players.
As a newcomer, deciding between Roulette vs Poker boils down to superficial things, such as ease of play, types of bets available and winning probability. To help you choose between Roulette and Poker, here’s an article that compares the two popular casino titles. Read on!
Similarities between Roulette and Poker
While Roulette and Poker look completely different casino games at the first glance, they have certain aspects in common. These are:
Highly popular casino games
It goes without saying that both Roulette and Poker are some of the most popular casino games out there. Whether you are looking to gamble online or are visiting a brick-and-mortar casino, you can easily find numerous Roulette and Poker variants to try your hands at. A handful of casino games share the same immense popularity as the two.
Numerous variants available
As both Roulette and Poker have been around for a long time, it’s no surprise that there are several variants of the two. If you want to try your luck at Roulette, you can choose from several popular Roulette variations such as European Roulette, American Roulette, French Roulette and 20p Roulette.
When it comes to Poker, Texas Hold’em, Omaha and Seven-Card Stud are some of the many Poker variants to play online. All these game types have their own set of tweaks and twists, making the overall gameplay even more exciting.
Strategic gameplay
As with all other online casino games, winning at both Roulette and Poker largely depends on luck. However, it’s possible for players to use strategies when playing these games.
Using a Poker or Roulette strategy won’t ensure guaranteed wins, but it can improve your chances of winning the game. Depending on your gameplay style, you can choose to use a basic strategy or can go ahead with a more complex betting system like the Martingale that can be used across different games.
Difference between Roulette and Poker
Now that we’ve seen the similarities between Roulette and Poker, let’s have a look at the differences between the two:
Cards vs Wheel
As you’d guess, the most obvious difference between Roulette and Poker is what’s used to determine the final outcome. Poker is a traditional casino card game that makes the use of cards to decide the winner. The main aim of Poker is to have the best 5 card hand out of all the players at the table.
On the other hand, the game of Roulette uses a spinning wheel and a white ball to determine the winner. The objective here is to wager whether the ball will come to rest on a single number, a group of numbers, or colour.
Accessibility
Another major difference between Roulette and Poker is how easy they are to get started with. Featuring simple rules and easy gameplay, Roulette is one of the most accessible casino games for new players. While Roulette also comes with some advanced strategies, its basic premise is pretty simple – place a wager on where you think the ball will land.
In contrast, Poker is based on a set of rules and features complex terminology. This makes it somewhat hard for newbies to get started with the game. However, with enough practice, one can easily master the basics of Poker and can start playing it online.
Roulette vs Poker: Short-term odds
Let’s assume that your goal is to double the amount that you’ve wagered initially. It is pretty easy to calculate what your doubling odds will be for European Roulette. In European Roulette, the chances of winning an even money (1:1) bet are close to 50%. To be precise, the chances of you doubling your wager are 47.3%, taking into account the 2.7% house edge.
But things tend to get a bit complicated when you try to do the same things with Poker. This is because you need to take several things into account when calculating the short-term winning odds in Poker. If we assume that you place a blind bet before the flop, then your winning chances against the other player with 2 cards are close to 25%.
All in all, the short-term winning odds of Roulette are greater than that of Poker.
Roulette vs Poker: Long term odds
Now let’s consider another example where your objective is to double your money in multiple bets. As the result of the previous spin doesn’t influence the outcome of the next spin when you play Roulette online, the chances of you doubling your money are 47.3% in Roulette.
On the other hand, players with enough skills and experience can take that number to well over 60% in Poker. This implies that the long-term winning chances in Poker are usually higher than that of Roulette.
Conclusion
In all honesty, both Roulette and Poker are exciting casino games that have something to offer to their players. While Roulette features a simple set of rules and is easy to get started with, you can use several gameplay strategies in Poker to improve your winning chances. If you want to truly know whether Roulette or Poker is better for you, then we suggest you give both of them a try first.
All values (Bet Levels, Maximum Wins etc.) mentioned in relation to this slot game are subject to change at any time.