Roulette is a casino game of chance played on a wheel with numbered pockets. There are two types of bets in roulette, “inside” and “outside.” Inside bets are placed on a number or a range of numbers. Outside bets are placed on various groupings of pockets or the color red or black. The payout odds for these bets are based on their probability of winning.
Rules and Bets
The roulette wheel has 36 pockets divided into divisions by metal separators called frets or canoes. These pockets are numbered nonconsecutively from 1 to 36 in red and black. On American wheels there are also two green compartments that carry the numbers 0 and 00.
There are also corner bets or square bets and a six line bet. These bets pay 8-1 for a straight up win and 5-1 for a split.
Players can bet on one single number, a group of numbers, the color red or black, whether the number is odd or even, or high (19-36) or low (1-18). The house edge in roulette varies depending on which type of wheel is used.
Getting Started
The first step in playing roulette is to place your chips on the betting mat where they will be clearly marked with the numbers you wish to bet on. This is done prior to the dealer rolling the ball.
Be sure to tell the dealer how many chips you want to place on each bet and she will hand them to you when it is time to place your bets. Be careful when using these chips, they do not have value away from the roulette table and should be used exclusively for playing the game.
When you are ready to cash out your chips, you simply place all of them on the table and the dealer will hand you normal casino chips in return. The process repeats between decisions until the dealer has cleared all losing bets.
A player who wins a bet may not cash it out immediately, but must ask the dealer to do so before leaving the table. The dealer will then mark the number that was hit on a small symbol that sits on the table.
European Rules versus US Rules
The game of roulette is most popular in Europe, and it’s the only casino game that has no official minimum bet limit. This makes it a good choice for players who don’t have much money to spend on gambling, but don’t want to spend their entire bankroll on a single bet.
