Aim of Roulette

Roulette is a casino table game where player’s place bets on either single numbers, a range of numbers or Red or Black.  To determine the winning number and colour a croupier spins a wheel in one direction and spins a ball in the opposite direction, which ever number the ball stops on determines the winning bets.

Types of Roulette

There are two main types of roulette, French/European roulette which has 37 numbers and American roulette which has 38 numbers (including 0 and 00).

European Roulette Wheel

Types of Bets

Players have a variety of betting options.  Placing “inside” bets is selecting either single numbers or a small range of numbers based on their proximity on the table.

Players can also bet on “outside” bets with larger number groupings such as Odd or Even, Red or Black, or streets, columns and other selections which will be explained in a moment.  The potential winnings for each combination are based on the probability of each outcome occurring plus a small house edge, again these will be explained in more detail in a moment.

Depending on the casino there are usually minimum and maximum bets which apply for each selection, these will be listed on the particular table you decide to play at, for example some casinos impose minimum bets to encourage “beginners” to play at separate tables to the “big players”.  This also helps the player as there is always a table to suit your budget.

Players may place their bets until the croupier calls “no more bets”, this is usually just before the ball is about to land.  Once the winning number is determined the croupier will place a counter called the “Dolly” onto the winning number, they will then clear all the losing bets and proceed to pay out the winning bets.

The standard numbers in the roulette wheel are 1-36 which make up the red and black numbers, there are then single 0 (zero) and in americn roulette 00 (double zero) these are both coloured green.  The order of the numbers is listed below for both European and American roulette wheels.  The double zero games give the casino an extra edge and I would recommend only ever playing European roulette where possible.

European roulette wheel

0-32-15-19-4-21-2-25-17-34-6-27-13-36-11-30-8-23-10-5-24-16-33-1-20-14-31-9-22-18-29-7-28-12-35-3-26

American roulette wheel

0-28-9-26-30-11-7-20-32-17-5-22-34-15-3-24-36-13-1-00-27-10-25-29-12-8-19-31-18-6-21-33-16-4-23-35-14-2

Types of bets

Types of Roulette Bet

Inside bets

Straight-up – Payout 35-1

Betting on a single number. The chip is placed in the middle of the number square.

Split – Payout 17-1

Betting on two adjoining numbers, i.e. 4-7 or 26-27.either on the vertical or horizontal (as in 14-17 or 8-9). The chip is placed in between both numbers.

Street – Payout 11-1

Betting on three numbers in a line i.e. 7,8,9.  The chip is placed on the edge of the line of the higher number, i.e. for 7,8,9 the bet would be placed on the line of the 9 (However this can differ depending on the layout)

Corner (or square) – Payout 8-1

Betting on four numbers in a square i.e. 14,15,17,18.  The chip is placed in the middle of the four numbers.

Double street – Payout 5-1

Betting on two adjoining streets to cover 6 numbers.  The chip is placed on the join of the two streets.

Trio – Payout 11-1

This bet can only be placed on the intersecting point between 0, 1 and 2, or 0, 2 and 3 in European roulette.

Basket (European) – Payout 8-1

This bet is placed similar to a double street however covers 0, 1, 2, and 3 only in European roulette.  A similar bet is available in double zero American games which is called a Top Line and covers 0, 00, 1, 2, and 3 (Payout 6-1)

Outside bets

Outside bets have smaller payouts than inside bets, however have better odds of winning.  Due to this there tends to be a higher minimum bet when using outside selections.

1 to 18 – Payout 1-1

Betting on the low numbers of 1-18.

19 to 36 – Payout 1-1

Betting on the higher numbers 19-36.

Red or black – Payout 1-1

Betting on which colour the number will be.

Even or odd – Payout 1-1

Betting on if the number is odd or even.  Zero and Double zero are neither odd or even and count as a losing bet.

Dozen bets – Payout 2-1

Betting on either the first (1-12), second (13-24), or third (25-36) dozen numbers.

Column bets – Payout 2-1

Betting on all 12 numbers in any of the three vertical columns i.e. starting with 1 and ending with 34.

Specialist bets

Some casinos offer specialist bets, often with names such as  Orphelins or snake bet, these will be omitted for the time being, however will be explained in more detail by the casino if required.

House Edge

Every casino game has a “House Edge” which is the built in advantage that the casino uses to make money.  The house edge is calculated based on the probability of each event occurring and the actual payout of these events.  The house edge of 2.7% for European roulette is far superior (to the player) to that of American roulette, 5.26%.  In simple terms if you were to have 1,000 bets of £1 each on Red you would, according to the law of averages, come away having lost £27 (which is 2.7% of £1,000).

The house edge is created as the payouts are adjusted on inside bets so that they are less than the actual odds i.e. in European Roulette there are 37 numbers including zero and a winning bet on a straight up number is only 35-1, and on outside bets Zero(s) creates the advantage.

Put your skills to the test

Now you know the basics it’s time to put your new skills into action, you can head on over to practice for free at the Bet365 Casino, then when you’re ready, check out the Roulette Strategies and systems and let’s start to make some money!

Once you have clicked on the link, which will open in a new window, you can then click “Flash Casino” rather than downloading the casino software, and you can choose “Free play”.  you can then practice to your hearts content without actually depositing any money!