Complete Guide to Roulette

Roulette is an immensely popular but simple casino game found all over the world. A standard roulette wheel is divided up into 37 different sections, with the numbers 1-36, 0 and sometimes 00 represented on the wheel. The object of the game is to guess where the roulette ball will come to rest when it is dropped into the spinning roulette wheel.

There are a number of different bets players can place including bets on specific numbers, groups of numbers, red or black, or even or odd. The casino employee responsible for collecting wagers, spinning the roulette wheel, and paying out winning bets is called the "croupier."

The house edge in roulette comes from the existence of the 0 and 00 slots on the roulette wheel. Even money bets such as red/black and even/odd are paid out at 1 to 1 odds but because of the green zero slots, there is a slightly less than 50% chance of winning an even money bet. Single number bets are paid at 35 to 1 but there are 36 different slots the ball could land on.

Roulette Bets

There are two different types of bets in roulette: outside bets and inside bets. Outside bets tend to hit more often but the payouts are low, while inside bets are less likely to hit but the payouts are high.

Outside Bets

Here are all of the outside bets you can make, along with their description and payout odds:

 

Inside Bets

Here are all of the inside bets you can make, along with their description and payout odds:

American vs. European Roulette Wheels

American roulette wheels have a higher house edge because they have an additional "00" slot on the wheel. European wheels only have the "0" spot so the house edge is significantly lower for European roulette wheels. If you have a choice between both wheel types, always go for the European roulette wheel.

"En Prison" and "La Partage" Rules

In some casinos, the "En Prison" and "La Partage" rules are used to reduce the house edge by half on even money bets.

If the ball lands on 0 during an even money bet, the player has the option of getting half his bet back or leaving the wager "en prison." If the imprisoned bet wins the next spin, it's released back to the player. If it loses the next spin, that bet is lost.

La Partage is similar to en prison except that the player doesn't have the option of putting the ball in prison. If the wheel lands on zero, that player automatically gets half his bet back.

Roulette Etiquette

Here are our five top tips for Roulette etiquette in a live casino:

Etiquette Tip #1

Pay attention to the croupier. The croupier will tell you when you can place your bets and when you must stop placing your bets. Don't try to place bets after the croupier says "no more bets."

Etiquette Tip #2

Keep your hands away from the betting area in between betting times. When the wheel is spinning or the croupier is paying out bets, you need to keep your hands off the betting area.

Etiquette Tip #3

Tip the croupier and your servers. They work hard to make your experience as fun as possible so offer them a little thanks with a tip. It's common to tip the croupier every tenth spin of the wheel.

Etiquette Tip #4

Have fun but don't scream in anyone's ear. It's easy to get caught up in the moment but try to keep your emotions in check - the people standing next to you will appreciate it.

Etiquette Tip #5

Place your chips on the board; don't toss them. Chips that get tossed tend to roll around and slow the game.

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