Rules of Roulette

Roulette is one of the most popular casino games in both the land based casinos and the online casinos. In fact, it has been called the “King of the casino!” The spinning roulette wheel with its red and black squares draws hundreds of players who flock around it trying their luck at the game. The game of Roulette comes from the French people, and in fact the word ‘Roulette’ is derived from the French language and means “small wheel.’

However in order to play the game of Roulette it is first necessary to understand the rules and strategies of play, just like it is with every other game. Roulette is not a very difficult game to understand and is in fact rather easy and extremely entertaining once you have gotten the hang of it.

Brief Description

The game of roulette is a played at casino tables all over the world and is a simple game that has a very high entertainment quotient. A Roulette table consists of the roulette wheel and the roulette table both of which are handled or overseen by the dealer or ‘croupier’ and it is his job to spin the wheel. The Roulette wheel by itself is made up several coloured slots or ‘pockets’ that are designed to ‘catch’ the ball. Each pocket has its own number. The numbers are arranged and mixed as alternate pairs of odd numbers with pairs of even numbers.

In European roulette, the wheel has thirty seven pockets while the game of American roulette has thirty eight pockets. These pockets are usually red or black in colour and are coloured alternatively. These pockets are numbered zero to thirty six in the case of European roulette and the same is also the case where American roulette is concerned. The only difference between the games of American and European roulette is that the former has a thirty eighth pocket with double zero markings or ’00, whereas this pocket is completely absent in European roulette.’ The pockets or slots that contain the number zero (0) and the double zero (00) are usually coloured green, although there are some roulette wheels that use a different colour.

Design

The roulette table has been designed in such a way that the numbers on the red and black colours, namely the numbers one to thirty six are lined up in three columns. The numbers zero (0) and double zero (00) are not included although bets may be placed on these numbers also. Each of the columns consists of twelve numbers. The first row is 1, 2, 3 and the second row is 4, 5, 6, the third 8, 9, 10 and so on. A player may place any number of bets as he chooses as there is no fixed limit to the number of bets at a roulette table.

Rules & Guidelines

Like most casino games, the game of roulette is played with chips with which the players can make their bets. Players can make bets on numbers or combinations of colours as per their choosing. Roulette players only play for themselves and need not wait for other players to join so that the game can begin. A player begins to make a bet by placing his money in front of himself and calling it to the croupier’s attention so that it can be changed into chips. When the croupier calls out “place your bets” chips are placed on the table and the bets are made. However, players need not pit all their chips in one go, although this is allowed. After the players place their bets, the dealer or ‘croupier’ proceeds to spin the roulette wheel and then rolls a small ball in the opposite direction to the spinning of the wheel. The ball then drops into one of the slots as the wheel begins to gradually slow to a stop and the winners and losers are determined.

Betting

Although the game of roulette is extremely simple to understand by itself, the betting that takes place at the roulette table is just a little more complicated. There are many types of bets that a player can make in roulette. The bets can be broadly classified as inside bets and outside bets. Most of the bets have been named in French, although some casinos use the English versions also. An inside bet is a bet that requires that each of your individual bets equal the minimum wager at the roulette table. The outside bets are basically the 2 to 1 wagers and have high chances of winnings. These bets are placed outside the roulette numerical grid of columns and rows on the table. To make these bets the table minimum bet should equal your wager.

Inside bets include straight bets, split bets, trio bets, corner bets, five number bets and six line bets.

1. Straight betting is when a player wagers that one particular number on the wheel will be hit. This bet is done by placing a chip on the number that has been selected. The pay off here is high and is 35:1. A split bet is made when a player places a chip on the line that separates two numbers that lie adjacent to each other. The bet pays 17 to 1 and the player wins if either of the two numbers is hit. In a Street Bet a player wagers that any number in a particular row will be hit such as 1, 2, 3 by placing a chip on the outside of the row he has selected. This bet is also called Street Bet or Three Number Bet and pays 11 to 1.
2. A Corner Bet is also called a Square bet or a Four Number bet and is achieved by placing a chip into the center of 4 numbers. It bets that one out of 4 numbers will be hit. All these numbers should be touching each other in the board. The pay off here is 8 to 1.
3. A five number bet is wagering that 0, 00, 1, 2, or 3 come up in a hit. This is done by placing a chip on the outside line that divides 0 and 1. This pays 6 to 1 on a bet.
4. Finally, a six line bet is betting that one out of six numbers in two rows that are next to each other will be hit. A player does this by placing a chip on the outside line between the two rows. Wins occur if any of the six numbers are hit and the pay off is 6 to 1.

Red, black, odd, even, high, low dozen and column bets form the Outside bets of a roulette table.

In a Red or Black bet a player bets that the next number to be hit will be on a red colour. If the number that the ball lands on happens to be the colour chosen the pay off is 1 to 1.To place this bet a chip must be placed on the box marked ‘red’ or ‘black’ on the table as per the choice of colour.

Betting Strategy

In the case of an Odd or Even bet a player makes a wager that the ball will land on an odd or even number in the event of an Odd or Even bet respectively. The Even bets do not include the pockets marked with a zero or double zero. The payoff is again 1 to 1 for both types of bets as in the cases of red and black bets. To make these bets a chip must be placed on either of the boxes marked ‘odd’ or ‘even’ according to the type of bet made.
A low bet is made when a wager is placed on the numbers 1 to 18. The player bets that the next number that the ball will land on will be from one to eighteen and is accomplished by placing a chip on the box on the roulette table marked ‘low.’

A high bet is very similar to a low bet, but in this case a player bets that the ball will land on any of the numbers from nineteen to thirty six. Here also the payoff is 1 to 1 and the bet is made when the player places a chip on the box marked ‘high.’

A dozen bet is any bet that bets on a selection of twelve numbers. The Dozen bets divide the roulette numbers into three groups namely, 1 to 12; 13 to 24; and finally 25 to 36. To make this type of bet a player places a chip on any one of the boxes on the roulette table that has been marked ‘1st 12’ or ‘2nd 12’ or ‘3rd 12’ according to his preference. This bet pays a player who wins in the ratio of 2 to 1.

Column bets are wagers made by a player on any one of the three columns on the roulette table. A bet is made that any one of the twelve numbers in a particular column will be hit and is done by placing a chip outside the desired column. This also pays 2 to 1.

Roulette is an amazing game and is easy to play once the bets have been understood.