Roulette Basics
Players, usually up to eight, play against the house represented
by the croupier also called the dealer, who spins the
roulette wheel and handles the wagers and payouts. The
wheel has 37 slots representing 36 numbers and one zero.
In the USA most roulette wheels have two zeros and therefore
38 slots.
Each player buys-in a different colored chips so their
bets don't get mixed up. At the end of play, if you won,
you exchange back the colored chips with cash chips. These
are special chips with the value amount imprinted on them.
There are several denominations in various colors. You
then take these chips to the cash desk where they will
give you actual cash money in exchange.
To play roulette, you place your bet or bets on numbers
(any number including the zero) in the table layout or
on the outside, and when everybody at the table had a
chance to place their bets, the croupier starts the spin
and launches the ball. Just a few moments before the ball
is about to drop over the slots, the croupier says 'no
more bets'. From that moment no one is allowed to place
- or change - their bets until the ball drops on a slot.
Only after the croupier places the dolly on the winning
number on the roulette table and clears all the losing
bets you can then start placing your new bets while the
croupier pays the winners. The winners are those bets
that are on or around the number that comes up. Also the
bets on the outside of the layout win if the winning number
is represented.
The house advantage
On a single zero roulette table the house advantage is
2.7%. On a double zero roulette table it is 5.26% (7.9%
on the five-number bet, 0-00-1-2-3). The house advantage
is gained by paying the winners a chip or two (or a proportion
of it) less than what it should have been if there was
no advantage.
The 'En Prison' rule
A roulette rule applied to even-money bets only, and by
some casinos (not all). When the outcome is zero, some
casinos will allow the player to either take back half
his/her bet or leave the bet (en prison = in prison) for
another roulette spin. In the second case, if the following
spin the outcome is again zero, then the whole bet is
lost.
The 'La Partage' rule
The la partage roulette rule is similar to the en prison
rule, only in this case the player loses half the bet
and does not have the option of leaving the bet en prison
for another spin. This refers to the 'outside' even-money
bets Red/Black, High/Low, Odd/Even and applies when the
outcome is zero. Both the La Partage and the En Prison
roulette rules essentially cut the casino edge on the
'even-money bets' in half. So a bet on Red on a single-zero
roulette table with the la partage rule or the en prison
rule has a 1.35% house edge and one on a double-zero roulette
table has a house edge of 2.63%.
The payouts
A bet on one number only, called a straight-up bet, pays
35 to 1. (You collect 36. With no house advantage you
should collect 37 (38 in the USA on double zero roulette
wheels).
A two-number bet, called split bet, pays 17 to 1.
A three-number bet, called street bet, pays 11 to 1.
A four-number bet, called corner bet, pays 8 to 1.
A six-number bet, pays 5 to 1.
A bet on the outside dozen or column, pays 2 to 1.
A bet on the outside even money bets, pays 1 to 1.
Object of the game
To win at roulette the player needs to predict where the
ball will land after each spin. This is by no means easy.
In fact, luck plays an important part in this game. Some
players go with the winning numbers calling them 'hot'
numbers and therefore likely to come up more times. Others
see which numbers did not come up for some time and bet
on them believing that their turn is now due. Some players
bet on many numbers to increase their chances of winning
at every spin, but this way the payout is considerably
reduced. Other methodical players use specific roulette
systems or methods, money management systems, or both.
