Roulette is one of the world’s best-loved casino games, known for its glamorous appeal and thrilling excitement. Yet its seemingly basic rules conceal an extraordinary depth that serious players can explore; read on to understand its workings, available bets, and house edge percentage.
Roullete (pronounced rou-lay) is played on a large, revolving wheel with numbered pockets. A ball is dropped into the wheel and when it lands in one marked with numbers, players win! Bets can be placed on single numbers, groupings of numbers (odd or even), odd/even numbers and even color (red/black).
The Roulette Wheel
A roulette wheel consists of a wooden disk slightly convex in shape with 38 numbered compartments arranged non-consecutively around its rim. These compartments alternate between red and black colors; in European-style wheels there is an additional single green compartment labeled 0, and on American wheels there may be double green ones labeled as 0. The compartments are separated by metal partitions known as separators or frets which contain thirty-six red or black ones and two green ones for maximum playability.
Each player receives a distinct color of chips to indicate their bets with, and the dealer (or croupier) will inquire as to the amount each chip should represent in terms of money – this ensures winners can easily be identified and paid their winnings, while also helping prevent cheating by making sure no one places more bets than intended.
Before the croupier spins the wheel, players can still place bets. Once all bets have been placed, he throws in a white ball that bounces around until finally landing in a slot on the wheel numbered 1. All eyes watch closely!
If you win a bet, the croupier will place a marker on your winning number and delete any losing bets before rewarding winning bets with payout. Be careful about using winnings for further bets; otherwise they could all go back down again! It is wiser not to dip into past earnings for future bets, as that increases the risk of you losing them all over again!
Choose bets with optimal odds to succeed at roulette. When making bets, understand which “inside” and “outside” bets offer lower house edges but lower payouts while outside bets offer greater odds but smaller pay-outs.