Roulette has offered glamour, mystery and excitement to casino-goers since the 17th century. Its rules are simple and easy to understand, but the game offers surprising depth for serious players, who can reap high rewards with the right strategy. In this article, we’ll cover the basics so you can bet confidently next time you visit a casino.
Roullete is a game of chance in which bets are placed on either individual numbers, groupings of numbers, red or black, odd or even, and whether the number is high or low. It is played on a table with a numbered wheel in the middle and a betting layout on either side. The dealer spins the wheel and a ball is thrown into the numbered slots, where winning bets are paid and losing bets cleared off the table.
The roulette wheel has 37 numbered pockets, including the zero (or double-zero in American roulette) and one or two green ones for the ‘etiquette’ or ‘la partage’ rule (discussed below). There are also two other coloured slots: one for red and the other for black. The distribution of the numbers on the roulette wheel is carefully arranged so that no particular grouping of numbers is dominant over any other grouping. However, some patterns can be observed if you look closely enough.
There are two basic types of bets in roulette, inside bets and outside bets. Inside bets are bets on specific numbers or small groups of numbers, and have a higher house edge than outside bets. They are usually larger in size, but have lower payouts than other bets. These bets include the straight-up bet, which is a single number, and split bets, street bets, corner bets, and six-line bets.
Outside bets are bets on red/black, odd/even, high/low, and dozens. These bets have a lower house edge than inside bets, and offer a better chance of hitting. However, they lose if the 0 comes up.
The ‘la partage’ rule, which reduces the house edge to 2.70% for French wheels and 1.45% for European wheels, is a significant advantage in roulette. This is because the dealer divides all even-money bets in half before paying out, retaining half for the house and giving the other to the player. This significantly decreases the house edge, which in turn increases the chances of a player winning.
A straight-up bet on a single number in the roulette table pays 35 to 1 when you win. However, the true odds of hitting that number are much lower, due to the fact that there are 38 numbers on the wheel (plus 0 and 00). This discrepancy is how the house makes its money. This is why some people are sceptical of roulette, and consider it a drain on their wallet. Others are simply unable to resist the lure of this man-made nastiness. Whether you’re one of those people or not, it’s up to you to decide how much to risk and where to place your chips.