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Playtech Lucky Ball Roulette is a standard game of Live European Roulette, with the addition of a side bet called the Fruity Bet.
The side bet is optional and funds itself, so no changes have been made to the roulette paytable.
You can win 3x, 5x, 20x, 50x or 100x if the main game’s result lands on one of the five “Lucky Numbers” selected each game round.
The payout amount for the Fruity Bet is determined by a three-reel slot, where three matching symbols on the win line determine the multiplier amount depending on the symbol type.
This is not the first time we’ve seen a live dealer roulette game called Lucky Ball Roulette, as Authentic Gaming had a version streamed from a land-based casino before it was discontinued.
The RTP for Lucky Ball Roulette is 97.30%, and the Fruity Bet is 95.29%.
In this review, I’ll explain how to play Lucky Ball Roulette, how the side bet works, and whether a strategy exists.
As usual, you can see everything for yourself in my Video Review.
Let’s explain how the Fruity Bet Side Bet works in Lucky Ball Roulette.
The Fruity Bet is optional, which you can play alongside the regular roulette bets. The side bet wins when the roulette ball lands in a numbered pocket on the roulette wheel designated as a lucky number.
There are five lucky numbers every game round, consisting of a number and its two neighbours, so a section of five numbers. These change every game round, with a new selection of neighbours picked before betting time closes.
A purple slot icon on the betting grid identifies the five lucky ball numbers.
When the betting time has closed, the camera switches to view a three-reel slot machine, which is spun to reveal the multipliers that will be the payout for a lucky ball win.
Three identical symbols must land on the pay line to generate the multiplier. There are five symbols, with the payout determined by which of the symbols completes a winning line.
If you want to play the optional Fruity Bet, you’ll find it at the top of the betting grid above the Zero section.
Lucky Ball Roulette is like any regular game of European Roulette.
This version has a single zero European roulette wheel mounted on a plinth in the centre of a studio specially built for the game.
The studio is reminiscent of a downtown bar, with its exposed brick walls. It’s part of a larger studio area shared with Mega Fire Lucky Ball.
The presenter is responsible for spinning the manual wheel and firing the ball around the edge. The design includes an image of the London skyline encircling the central turret.
The game starts with 20 seconds of betting time.
The five Fruity Bet Lucky numbers are chosen and highlighted on the betting grid using the Purple slot icon during this period.
You can now place your bets on the betting grid and the optional Lucky Ball Side Bet spot.
When the Betting time has closed, the presenter moves across to the Three-wheel slot to generate the multiplier payout value for the Fruity Bet.
The presenter spins the wheel and flicks the ball into the rim when Betting time has closed.
We watch as the ball spins around the circumference until it slows down enough to drop into the wheel, where we see the ball skip about until it comes to rest in one of the numbered pockets.
The result is displayed on the screen.
If the result happens to be one of the lucky ball numbers, players playing the Fruity Bet receive their winnings. Everyone else receives the standard roulette payouts if they have correctly predicted the outcome using one of the many betting options for Roulette.
The objective of Roulette is to predict the numbered pocket the ball will land in when the wheel has stopped spinning.
There are thirty-seven pockets numbered 0 to 36.
The Zero is coloured green, while the Odd numbers are coloured Red and the Even numbers Black.
To make betting straightforward, there are several preconfigured bets you can use. They are grouped into two types.
In addition, preconfigured bets cover sections of the wheel with Straight-up and Split bets and complicated bets covering particular betting patterns and complete number sets.
You can use the betting grid to place inside and outside bets directly.
The racetrack is often used for placing section bets and neighbour bets, where you pick one number and numbers on either side of it.
The great thing about Roulette is the ability to place multiple bets on the betting ride, using both Inside and Outside bets to maximum effect.
Bets | Other Names | Payout | Probability |
---|---|---|---|
Single Number | Straight, Straight-Up | 35:1 | 2.70% |
2 Numbers | Split | 17-1 | 5.41% |
3 Numbers | Street, Line, Basket* | 11-1 | 8.11% |
4 Numbers | Corner, Square | 8:1 | 10.81% |
6 Numbers | 6 Line, Double Street | 5-1 | 16.22% |
Bet | Other Names | Payout | Probability |
---|---|---|---|
Column | 2-1 | 32.43% | |
1st 12 (Dozen) | 2-1 | 32.43% | |
2nd 12 (Dozen) | 2-1 | 32.43% | |
3rd 12 (Dozen) | 2-1 | 32.43% | |
Odd | 1-1 | 48.65% | |
Even | 1-1 | 48.65% | |
Red | Colour Bet | 1-1 | 48.65% |
Black | Colour Bet | 1-1 | 48.65% |
Low | 1-18 | 1-1 | 48.65% |
High | 19-36 | 1-1 | 48.65% |
There are two aspects to Lucky Ball Roulette:
You can play both bets or only one; the choice is entirely up to you.
The Fruity Bet has five chances of winning each game – there are five fruity numbers each. The probability of winning is about 1 in every eight spins (7.69) or 13%.
The minimum payout is 3x, and the max is 100x, so you can see how this bet favours the house. The published RTP for the Fruity Bet is 95.29%. This is not a bet that gives good long-term returns to players.
So you either:
I talk a lot about roulette strategies in my articles and reviews. While there are specific ways of playing some roulette games, especially the ones with multipliers, there is no one strategy that guarantees you’ll win playing European Roulette. If there were, we’d all be millionaires!
The most sensible strategies are ones that manage your bankroll the best and give you some return each spin. To achieve that, you need to have a varied set of bets, some Inside and Outside Bets – so if one type loses, the other has a better chance of winning – which offsets your losses.
I’m not a high roller, and when it comes to Roulette, I don’t like to make the game highly volatile, so I don’t place many Straight-up bets, and I don’t make Complete number bets.
I play section bets and some outside bets, depending on how I’m feeling and how the short-term stats of the game are going.
We know over the long term, the statistics of roulette level out, so I like to look for times when the game’s variance is against the long-term statistical return. That helps me decide what type of bets to place.
But remember, each new game is a unique event; with no reference to past games and results, you still have the same chance of winning or losing as the previous and next spin.
Playojo has a massive selection of live dealer games and carries all Playtech Live games.
The best way to find Lucky Ball Roulette is to open any Playtech live casino game, go to the lobby, find the roulette games, and locate Lucky Ball Roulette in the list.
Regular promotions give you cash back on losses, a great feature when playing live casino games.
Lucky Ball Roulette Live is a Live Dealer game, with the addition of the Fruity Side Bet, controlled through a random number generator (RNG).
All other aspects of the game are live, physical and tangible.
The RNG engine is responsible for picking the Multiplier for the Fruity Bet and five random numbers, which, if landed on during the main roulette game, trigger a win for the Fruity Bet.
The published RTP for the Fruity Bet is 95.29%, so it offers a poor return, meaning in the long term, you’ll lose playing this side bet.
The main roulette game is physically played with a live dealer, a physical roulette wheel and a ball, which is all manually operated.
By their very nature, live games produce natural results, which at times can look unnatural – but that’s just how live results are.
The wheels are carefully monitored to ensure they run within the manufacturer’s tolerances for behaviour and bias. You’re guaranteed a fair wheel when you play live roulette, regardless of what few people say about the games being fixed.
The mix of RNG and physical components delivers a fair game of roulette.
All Playtech Live Roulette games use the same playing interface, with many features that make playing easier.
Here’s a quick rundown of what you can find.
I guess “Lucky Ball” describes how the ball becomes lucky for the Fruity Bet players if it happens to trigger a win for the side bet.
I would have called the game Fruity Bet Roulette, which aptly describes the game and avoids confusion with previously released games called Lucky Ball Roulette.
As roulette games go, Playtech roulette is always excellent. The playing interface is optimised to make everything easy to use. The Bet Builder is a fantastic bit of functionality that you can use to create betting patterns without placing a bet.
As for the Fruity Bet side bet. It’s a bit of fun and should be treated like that. Although it has a maximum payout of 100x, the RTP of 95.29% already tells you this is a poor-paying feature.
So the best advice is to play this for small sums as a bit of fun. Don’t expect too much back, and certainly don’t expect to make lots of profit from it in the long term.