Roulette Rules

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Roulette is one of the most popular games played in modern online casinos. It is also amongst one of the oldest Casino games. Roulette is somewhat unique amongst modern table games in that it employs a mechanical device as the key element of the game. This is the large and very distinct Roulette wheel, which is mounted horizontally on one end of the table. The hollow of the wheel has numbered pockets ranging from zero to thirty-six (and a ‘00’ in American Style Roulette).
Wagers in Roulette are placed on an area of the table marked with a pattern of boxes and numbers. This is called the game layout. You may place wagers on any particular number, any 4 adjacent numbers, a column or a ‘dozens’ bet.

The wheel is used to determine the outcome of a game of Roulette. Once the bets have been placed the wheel is set spinning and a small (usually metal or ivory) ball is spun onto the wheel in the opposite direction to that of the spinning wheel. The ball will rapidly loose speed and eventually stop in one of the pockets. The number of the pocket is the winning number.

Objective:

The game of Roulette is played by spinning a small ball around a wheel that contains thirty-seven numbered slots. When the wheel stops, the ball comes to rest in one of these slots. The object of Roulette is to correctly predict the slot in which the ball will land. By predicting the right number, you earn a payoff on your bet. The size of the payoff depends on how the bet was placed.

Playing the Game:

Roulette is played at a table that seats from one to six or seven players. There is the wheel and beside it the betting area known as the layout. The players make their wagers, the croupier spins the wheel to obtain the winning number and the players wait to see if they have won or lost.

This is one game where the player has absolutely nothing to do with picking the winning number. The spinning of the wheel and the releasing of the ball are all handled by the croupier, the player only has to decide on where to place the wager(s). The challenge in roulette is to bet in such a way as to win.

Betting:

There are several ways to bet in roulette, and as usual the harder it is to obtain the bet made the larger is the payoff.

When you play roulette you have to purchase special roulette chips, these chips are only used at the roulette table and must be cashed in for regular chips before leaving the table. The chips are a unique color for each player, this designates who owns the chip when it is time to pay off bets. Special chips are used in roulette because when using the betting area chips are placed in many locations on the layout and this keeps everyone from getting confused as to who has bet what. To discourage cheating by players who might be tempted to move their chips from a losing position to one that payoff players are to keep their hands away from the table until all winning bets have been paid off.

In roulette you have numerous betting options, the different bets are indicated by the placement of the chips on the table. They are usually grouped into two major categories:

1. Inside bets - made on numbers directly inside the layout
   
   
2. Outside bets - are made on the betting area on the roulette table bordering the number layout. Different tables have slightly different layouts for outside betting, you just find the location for the bet you want to make and place your chip there.

Inside Bets:

The number layout is the part of the table containing squares with the numbers in them. The squares are laid out 12 rows by 3 columns with the 0 and 00 numbers at one end.

The inside bets are:

• Single Number (Straight Bet, Double Zero or Zero)
  Betting on a singe number, indicated by placing the chip in the center of the square containing the number you wish to bet on. Pays 35 to 1.
• Split Bet
  Betting on two numbers, indicated by placing the chip on the line separating the two numbers you wish to bet on. Pays 17 to 1.
• Corner Bet (Square or Quarter Bet)
  Betting on a block of four numbers, indicated by placing the chip on the intersection of the horizontal and vertical lines at the center of the block you wish to bet on. Pays 8 to 1.
• Street Bet
  Betting on a row of three numbers, indicated by placing the chip on the line at the edge of the number layout on the row you wish to bet on. Pays 11 to 1.
• Special Line Bet
  There is only one of these made by betting on five adjoining numbers (00,0,1,2 and 3), indicated by placing the chip on the line at the edge of the number layout straddling the zero rows and the first row. Pays 6 to 1.
• Line Bet
  Betting on six adjoining numbers, indicated by placing the chip on the line at the edge of the number layout straddling the two rows you wish to bet on. Pays 5 to 1.

The outside bets are:

• Dozens
  There are only three ways to make this bet on the 1st 12 numbers, the 2nd 12 numbers or the 3rd set of 12 numbers. You indicate this bet by placing the chip on the location outside the number layout. Pays 2 to 1.
• Odd or Even
  There are only two ways to make this bet, on all the odd numbers or on all the even numbers. You indicate this bet by placing the chip on the location outside the number layout. Pays even money.
• Red or Black
  There are only two ways to make this bet, on all the red numbers or on all the black numbers. You indicate this bet by placing the chip on the location outside the number layout. Pays even money.
• Column Bets
  There are only three ways to make this bet on the 1st column, the 2nd column or the 3rd column of numbers. You indicate this bet by placing the chip on the location outside the number layout. Pays 2 to 1.
• 1 -18
  There is only one way to make this bet, on the first half of the numbers on the wheel (excluding 00 and 0). You indicate this bet by placing the chip on the location outside the number layout. Pays even money.
• 19 - 36
  There is only one way to make this bet, on the second half of the numbers on the wheel. You indicate this bet by placing the chip on the location outside the number layout. Pays even money.

Roulette Strategy

Despite the fact that so many gambler seem to swear by a foolproof roulette system, the truth is, none exist. Each spin of the wheel is an independent event, and all bets associated with that event have an in-built mathematical house edge. If systems that guaranteed success did exist, do you think every casino would offer Roulette?

This is not to say that you don't have a good chance of winning at roulette, because you do. It is actually a great returning game for the player.