Introduction to Roulette

The main goal of Roulette is to predict a number that a ball will land on after it’s spun by the dealer. You can also bet on a combination of numbers or colours and odd or even. It seems pretty easy at first but there are a few rules you need to know before you begin.

When playing roulette there are two different types of wheels:

American Wheel – has the numbers 1-36 coloured in red or black and a 0 and 00 that are green. The 0 and 00 slots give the house its edge to 5.26%.

European Wheel – has the numbers 1-36 coloured in red or black and only has one 0 for a total of 37 slots. The house edge is only 2.63% in this game.

Both games are played exactly the same but your odds are better in European Roulette as there is only one 0 on the table. If you’re playing online your best bet is to play this version as your odds are better.

Roulette Table Set Up:
When you are looking at a Roulette table it is a bit confusing at first with all the numbers and squares. The best bet is for you to break the table into two areas, the outside and the inside.

The outside of the Roulette table is any box that is not coloured in red or black. They include: Red, Black, Odd, Even, 1st-12, 2nd-12, 3rd-12, 1-18, and 12-36.

The inside of the table is for any specific number that is red or black and 0 and 00.

It does not matter where you play when you approach the table. All you have to ensure is that you play the minimums that are set by the casino. If the minimum is $5 then you have to play at least $5 on the inside or outside.

Roulette Betting

When buying in to the roulette table, there are two ways you can play. If you are looking to play for both the inside and outside of the table you will have to use two different chips.

Inside Betting – When cashing into the game you have to let the dealer know you want coloured chips so that you can play inside. The reason for this is because it would be too hard for the casino to keep track of who placed what bet. Everyone will have a different coloured chip to play with and you know if you have won or not. Your chips can be worth any value you want them to be. The dealer will keep track of how much your colour is worth. Let say you give $100 and want 50 chips. That would mean that each chip is worth $2. You can then use the chips to bet on the inside of the table.

Please Note: You cannot play these chips at any other table or game as they only have value at your table. If you need to cash out you have to let the dealer know and they will exchange them for money chips.

Outside Betting – This is less complicated and all you need is any casino money chip to place on the outside of the table. As long as you have bet the minimum you can play the chips on the outside. If the minimum is $5 then you can bet $5 and up on each outside square.

Please Note: You cannot put a $5 chip down on red and a $1 chip on odd. Both bets have to reach the $5 minimum and it’s not totalled.

Types of Inside Betting

As noted before any bet that is on the inside of the table. You can bet a number straight up or straddle the line between numbers to select a combination of numbers. There are different Straight up bets below and each have a different payout schedule.

Straight Up – This is a bet is a wager on a single number. It pays 35 to 1.

Split Bet – A bet on two numbers and it pays 17 to 1. Place your chip so it straddles the line between any two numbers on the inside of the table.

Street bets or line bet – a bet on three numbers and it pays 11 to 1. Place your chip on the vertical line separating the outside and inside betting areas. The chip straddles the first number in the row.

Corner bet or Quad bet – A bet on four numbers on the inside that pays 8 to 1. Place your chip so it is touching the four corners of the numbers you are betting.

Basket bet – A basket bet is a five number bet with 0 and 00 being one of the numbers – double zero and numbers-1-2-3 which pays 6 to 1. On the double zero wheel it has a house edge of 7.89 percent making it the worst bet in Roulette.

Double Street bet – This is a bet on six numbers and pays 5 to 1. Place your chip on the line separating the outside and inside area as you do for the street bet but let it also straddles the row above or below.

Types of Outside Betting

Odd and Even are all even money bets. You place your chips in the boxes on the outside of the table that say odd or even. They pay out 1:1 for a win.

Red and Black are bets that the ball will land in a black or red slot. You place your chips in the boxes on the outside of the table that red or black and they pay out 1:1 for a win.

Dozens bet – is a bet that the ball will land in a set of 12 numbers. You place your wager in the boxes marked 1-12, 13-24 or 25-36. These bets pay 2 to 1. If you bet on 1-12 and the ball lands on a 3, you win. 0 or 00 will result in a loss in all outside bets.

Column bets is another 12 number wager but instead of 12 consecutive numbers they consist of the numbers in one of the three vertical columns and are made in the boxes at the bottom of the layout. It also has a payout of 2:1 and they are located under the columns of each number at the end of the table.

The Roulette Dealer

Also known as a croupier, the dealer will stand on the other side of the table facing the entire crowd. They are responsible for helping place bets and exchanging chips for cash. After all bets are placed they will wave their hand over the table to signify the end of betting and will spin the ball over the wheel. Once a number has been selected the dealer will then place a marker on the number and clear out all losing bets. They will then payout the winning bets and the outside bets.

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