Roulette gained popularity in the mid 1800s is often associated with tuxedoed gents, bejeweled women, caviar, and champagne. Some give credit of the birth of roulette to Blaise Pascal, the famed mathematician. It is difficult to know, but it would make perfect sense, roulette being a mathematical game.
There are more gambling systems devised to beat the roulette wheel than any other game. A betting system may give you an advantage in the short term, but do not expect to systematically play your way to riches using the roulette wheel in the casinos. For one thing, everything considered, it is a very difficult task involving such intricacies as “wheel clocking”, or finding a biased roulette wheel. For another thing, it is unlikely that the casinos will sit back and do nothing about it if you actually were to succeed.
Having a goal of staying ahead when playing roulette, even if it is only a relatively small amount, is more realistic than having a goal of making millions.
The Basics of Roulette
Now that we have our feet back on the ground…let us talk about the basics of roulette. However, if you are already ready to play visit one of the online casinos that we recommend to get started.
| Column Bet | The roulette table layout is divided into three columns. Bets on a combination of twelve numbers at the same time. Pays 2-1. |
| Combination Bet | Using one or more chips in the same position to wager on more than one number at a time. |
| Corner Bet | One wager that bets four numbers at the same time. An inside bet. Pays off at 8-1. |
| Dozen Bet | A wager on twelve numbers on the roulette layout at the same time. Numbers 1-12, 13-24, or 25-36. |
| Even-Odd Bet | Pays 1-1 if the winning number is Even or Odd. This is an 18 number wager on the outside. |
| Five Number Bet | The bet which gives the casino a 7.89% edge over the player. Bets numbers 0, 00, 1, 2, 3 at the same time. |
| High-Low Bet | Pays 1-1. Bets 18 numbers at the same time (1-18 or 19-36). |
| Inside Bet | A wager placed on any individual number on the roulette table layout including 0 or 00, or any combination of the numbers. |
| Outside Bet | Red, Black, Odd, Even, High, Low |
| High-Low Bet | Pays 1-1. Bets 18 numbers at the same time (1-18 or 19-36). |
| Red-Black Bet | An 18 number wager which pays off at 1-1. |
| Six-Number Bet | An inside combination bet at six numbers at the same time. |
| Split Bet | An inside combination bet of two numbers at the same time. |
| Straight Bet | A single wager on a single number or combination bet. |
| Straight Up Bet | Pays 35-1. Bets just one number (0, 00, 1-36). |
| Trio Bet | A combination bet on three numbers at the same time. An inside wager. |
| Wheel | See American or French Wheel. |
| Zero, Double-zero | Green in color. Can be wagered the same way as numbers 1-3 |
The Roulette Rules
Don’t let the various terms above frustrate you. They are not as ominous as you may think, because they all derive from a very basic premise. So, are you ready for your first trip to the roulette wheel?
Stepping up to the table for the first time can be intimidating, so spend some time here, reading this article on the basic how-to of the game, in order to gain the confidence you need to proceed! If playing roulette online is going to be your practice field before a live performance, we can spend some time on that as well…later.
For starters, roulette moves relatively slow, so the roulette table may be a wise jumping off place to get your feet wet and begin to enjoy your casino experience. Its nature is subdued and quiet, and by proxy of that attitude it tends to draw a more ”civilized” crowd.
Secondly, roulette has its own set of chips, which are not the same as the other tables and games in the casino. When you trade your regular money or chips in, they will give you a stack of roulette chips. They will be all the same color. Everyone playing at the table uses their own color, as this is the only way the dealers can keep track of what bet belongs to whom.
The value of the color of chips is the dealers’ decision, and he/she will make it known to everyone playing at the roulette table, because all the chips at the table have the same value. Dealers will place what is known as a “lamer” on top of a chip of that color. If you see the person beside you with red chips and you see a lamer on a stack of red chips with $100 printed on it, you know that stack of red chips is worth $100. Stacks of chips are usually 20 deep, so the $100 marker on the stack will tell you that the chips are worth $5 each ($5 x 20 chips = $100).
Okay, your money is down, you have been assigned some chips and your color; you are ready to play the game of roulette!
Roulette:Placing the bet
Actually placing the physical bet in roulette is easy and only requires dexterity. However, there are different places you can put bets down, so it can be rather befuddling to begin with. Bets basically fall into one of two categories: inside bets and outside bets. Naturally, being on the outside of the table makes those bets placed there “outside bets” and conversely, the inside bets are the ones on the main grid of numbers, which are located on the inside of the roulette table.
To place a bet, take your roulette chip(s) and put it (them) down where you want to bet. It really is as simple as it sounds, keeping in mind that, outside bets must each be at least the table minimum, whereas inside bets only have to total the table minimum. What does that mean? If the table minimum is $10, outside bets each has to be $10, no matter how many there are.
However, on your inside bets you can make two $5 bets or ten $1 bets. You can make as many different bets as you want at any given time. You can even bet on red and black at the same time, although there is not really going to be an advantage in doing so. As long as your bet total is at least the table minimum, but under the maximum, you are okay.
You can place a bet almost any time you want while the roulette session is going. I said almost because there is a “cut off” point. Let me explain. After one spin is completed and the losing bets have been swept off, you will see other gamblers starting to lay their roulette bets down for the next spin. This usually takes a while, so do not think that you have to rush to place your bets.
You can do that all the way up to the point where the dealer will wave his hand(s) over the table and yells “no more bets!” He/she will not do this until after the ball has been spinning for a little while, and bets can be placed while the roulette wheel is still in motion, all you need to pay attention to is the dealer.
When the ball stops and comes to a rest, the dealer(s) will begin to pay the winning bets, and sweep the board clean of losing bets. If you watch a few rounds, you quickly come to realize that the casino always seems to sweep away more bets than it pays off. As long as they are not your bets, I guess you will be doing well!
That’s it! It is not too complicated at all. In fact roulette is a very easy game to learn, and even easier to play. The casinos often try to give the ambiance of sophistication because it attracts money to the roulette table. Do not let this keep you from enjoying a spin or two.
Online Roulette
We discussed online gambling and practice of the roulette wheel earlier. Let us discuss some differences as well as similarities, and then offer you some suggestions that will help both online and real-life gaming strategies.
Online roulette is a really good attempt by the Internet gurus to simulate the real thing. However, there are some major differences between the two, and they are pretty obvious upon observation. Where you are is a good place to start. Standing live in front of a roulette table fully clothed and alone in your house is vastly different than playing in a real casino, where it is part of the casino dealer’s job to try and pull your attention away from the game.
Sometimes, they will try anything to do just that! So, remember, that although online roulette may allow you to get comfortable with the basic rules and practices of the game, there really is no way it can prepare you for the atmosphere of the real casino.
First you’re operating in a vacuum when playing online roulette, because you are not dealing with physical people and the competition they present. Casinos are also full of other things that easily distract you.
Second thought that occurs to me, and I’m sure others as well when considering online versus real life roulette is that of security. What do I mean? Well, in real life, you watch as the little ball jumps around and gets thrown back and forth on pegs, edges and the like, and then it quite randomly falls into place. This somehow affords you the feeling that you “have a chance” and that it is not predictable and “rigged”. This element is missing when going online to play. However, as long as you only play at the online casinos we recommend, you can rest assured that the software is honest.
Roulette Strategies and Betting Systems
When it comes to roulette strategy, there are a number of effective betting systems that can help you become a winner.
The math behind roulette is simple, and it is fairly encouraging since the game of roulette has a relatively low “house edge”. That is to say…knowing it does help you “beat the wheel” but only if you use it together with a good betting system. At his point we need to discuss “house edge”.
This is the percentage or odds that the house gives you for winning. Most American casinos quote a roulette house edge of 5.31% for every bet except one. The other bet, the five-number bet, gives a more dismal house edge of 7.13%. What it comes down is this: if you want something that works, look for extended rules when you play.
For instance, some online casinos use a rule called ‘surrender’. When playing with this rule (and you need to find out if its in place BEFORE playing) you have the closest thing to a strategy that ever was. Many online casinos also offer single zero roulette, which brings down the house edge to a very low 2,7%.
The surrender rule applies only to outside bets that pay even money. These bets are: red/black, even/odd, and high/low. If the ball lands on 0 or 00 then you only lose half of what you placed as a bet instead of all of it. When casinos use this rule, then the house edge starts to drop to around 2.5% for American roulette and 1.35% for single zero roulette. This rule works very much in your favour, and if it is in use it makes roulette one of the best casino games to play.
There are several strategies and betting systems that are worth trying to learn to increase your chances of winning at this game. However, there are a few sites on the Internet selling betting systems which try to teach you how to systematically beat an online casino’s roulette game, but these are usually a waste of money.
Have fun! Relax! Enjoy!
Source: Roulette How To Play and win.
