The game of roulette offers glamour, mystery and excitement to casino-goers. It is simple to learn, but has a surprising level of depth for serious players who use the right strategy to reap high rewards. Whether you are a newbie or a veteran player, it’s important to understand the basics of Roullete before you begin betting. In this article, we’ll break down the rules of the game and give you some tips for making smart bets.
A roulette wheel consists of a solid wooden disk slightly convex in shape with a metal perimeter. Thirty-six compartments on the outer edge are painted alternately red and black and numbered nonconsecutively from 1 to 36. A green pocket on the European wheel carries the number 0, and two green pockets on the American wheel contain the numbers 00 and 0.
Roulette is played with chips, with each bet covering either one single number or groups of numbers (called “outside bets”). Outside bets are generally cheaper to make but pay out less if you win. The odds of winning a bet depend on how many numbers are covered, whether they are odd or even and whether the number is in the first (18) or last (18) groupings.
In addition to the standard bets on individual numbers and groups of numbers, some bets are specific to a type of number or a particular symmetry in the wheel. These bets are known as announced bets and are typically made on French roulette, though some online casinos offer them as well.
Street Bet/Three Number Bet/Six Line Bet/The Trio: A street bet is made by placing chips on the outside border of a row of three consecutive numbers. This bet pays out 11-1 if it wins. The Dozens Bet/Odd or Even Bet/Impair et Pair: This bet, called douzaine in French, is a wager that the ball will land on one of the first 12 (first dozen) or the last 12 (second or third) numbers on the layout. This bet pays out 2-1 if it wins.
Some players like to watch other roulette games to see if they can predict where the ball will land, but this is not a sound strategy. The only way to beat the maths is to have a system that makes no mistakes and is consistent. A search of Google will return millions of systems for playing and supposedly winning roulette, but most of them are either too complex to work or simply not accurate.