Lightning Roulette
Lightning Roulette is European roulette with an electrified layer on top. Every round, a handful of numbers are struck at random and given multipliers. If you have a straight-up bet on one of them, your win is multiplied. The catch is the part players miss: straight-up bets pay a reduced base rate in exchange, so the multipliers are not free.
The lightning strike
After bets close, one or more numbers on the layout are struck and assigned a multiplier for that round only. If the ball then lands on a struck number and you had a straight-up bet on it, your payout is multiplied rather than paid at the ordinary rate.
The strikes are random and re-drawn every single round. Nothing carries over, so a number struck last round is no more or less likely to be struck next round. There is no pattern to read in the history panel, however tempting it looks.
The trade-off nobody mentions
This is the part worth knowing before you sit down. Straight-up bets in Lightning Roulette pay a lower base rate than they do on a standard European table. That reduction is what funds the multipliers.
So the game is not standard roulette with a free bonus bolted on — it is standard roulette with the single-number payout trimmed and the difference recycled into occasional large hits. It shifts the shape of your results toward rarer, bigger wins, which is a real change in how a session feels even though the wheel is the same 37-pocket European wheel.
Outside bets — red or black, odd or even, the dozens — are unaffected by the strikes and pay as normal. If you play outside bets only, you are playing ordinary roulette on a more expensive-looking table. Check the paytable at the table before you sit, since the exact figures are printed there.
Who it suits
Players who bet single numbers and want the ceiling raised. If you spread chips across the layout on outside bets, the lightning layer does nothing for you and a standard European roulette table is the better choice.
The wheel itself is European — 37 pockets with a single zero — so the underlying structure is the cheaper of the two roulette formats. What the multipliers do is redistribute, not add. The guide to inside and outside bets covers which is which.
The rest of the Lightning family
Evolution has applied the same idea to several games. Lightning Dice and Lightning Storm are the closest relatives, and the catalogue also carries Lightning Blackjack, Lightning Sic Bo and an XXXtreme version of both Roulette and Baccarat that strikes more numbers per round.
All of them settle in rand. See the live dealer floor for the standard tables, or the other game shows.
Frequently asked questions
How do Lightning Roulette multipliers work?
After bets close, one or more numbers are struck at random and given a multiplier for that round only. If the ball lands on a struck number and you had a straight-up bet on it, your win is multiplied. Strikes are re-drawn every round and never carry over.
Does Lightning Roulette pay less than normal roulette?
On straight-up bets, yes. The single-number payout is reduced compared with a standard European table, and that reduction is what funds the multipliers. Outside bets such as red or black are unaffected and pay as normal.
Can you predict which numbers get struck?
No. The strikes are random and re-drawn every round, so a number hit last round is no more or less likely to be hit next. The history panel shows what happened, not what is coming.
Is it European or American roulette?
European — 37 pockets with a single zero, which is the cheaper of the two wheel formats. The lightning layer changes how payouts are distributed on straight-up bets; it does not change the wheel underneath.
18+. Gambling involves risk and can be addictive. Play responsibly. National Responsible Gambling Programme 0800 006 008.