Roulette has been a casino classic for centuries and is enjoyed by people around the world for its simplicity, elegance and excitement. It’s a game that requires a lot of luck, but it also provides a surprising depth of strategy for serious players. There are countless systems for playing (and supposedly winning) roulette, some easy to understand, others involving complex mathematics and others with grandiose names like The Martingale System or the D’Alembert Method. However, even a basic knowledge of the rules and a few simple betting strategies can help you increase your chances of making money in this popular table game.
A Roulette wheel consists of a solid wood disk, slightly convex in shape. A static bowl holds the spinning wheelhead, while around its perimeter are metal separators, known as frets by croupiers, and in between these are thirty-six compartments, painted alternately red and black and numbered nonconsecutively from 1 to 36. The wheel also has a single green compartment on European wheels, and two green compartments on American wheels marked 0 and 00.
Inside bets are wagers on individual numbers and pay out if the ball lands on them, while outside bets cover a wider range of numbers. These bets are more conservative, but they offer higher payouts if you win. The most common types of bets are:
The Split Bet/Cafe Bet: In this bet, you place your chip(s) to straddle the line between two numbers on the layout. This bet pays out 17-1 if either number wins.
Dozens Bet: Also called passe et manque in French, this is an even-money bet that the winning number will belong to the first or last 12 on the layout. The house edge here is 2.7%.
Before each spin, the croupier will clear off all losing bets from the table and give the players coloured chips with values equal to the minimum table amount. Unlike normal casino chips, these are unique for each player to help distinguish them from one another during play. During each round of Roulette, the dealer will mark the winning bets and payout any winnings before beginning the next cycle. Players are advised to keep their winnings as short as possible and never dip into their winnings for future bets.