The Basics of Roulette
Roulette has long been one of the most beloved and exciting casino games since it first gained popularity during the 17th century. While intuitive to grasp, its depth can surprise even experienced bettors. While you can wager on single numbers or groups of numbers or whether a number is red or black; various betting strategies exist; most are too complex for us to discuss here; our best advice would be playing within your budget without trying to outwit the house edge through complex systems.
American and European roulette have many variations, each featuring a wheel with one or two zeros and a table with numbered slots for bets. The difference lies in how these bets are placed and paid; French roulette differs as bets that land on zero are split in half between casino profits and player winnings to reduce its house edge to 2.70%.
Once you arrive at a roulette table, speak with the dealer/croupier about purchasing chips. He will ask which denominations are suitable and once chosen will mark each chip accordingly before giving them out to you. Unlike other casino table games such as blackjack or poker, roulette chips do not display dollar values printed directly onto them but instead come with set of colored chips with specific denominations to help players differentiate their bets from others’ bets.
As soon as you have your chips, place them in their respective spots on the roulette table map. You may also place bets on groups of numbers such as Dozens or Columns as these offer lower odds for success and cheaper betting at 2-1 odds of winning.
Before spinning the wheel, the dealer will announce “No More Bets” and clear away losing bets from the table to prevent cheating or any other advantages; this also keeps play flowing smoothly without delays.
The dealer then spins the wheel, sending the ball spinning around in an ever-widening circular path until it lands in one of its compartments on the roulette wheel. Depending on its version of play, there may be 37 or 38 pockets arranged into rows with red and black numbers alternatingly arranged – although on European wheels this arrangement symmetries such that low red numbers and high black numbers always come in pairs.
As soon as the ball comes to rest, a dealer will place a marker on the winning number and clear away losing bets before rewarding winners with payments. When winning bets do become successful be sure to cash them out quickly in order to avoid using your winnings for future bets or using part of them towards wagers on future games.