Roulette Rules

Back to Basics

Roulette is an all-time casino favorite. There are about 8 players in the game who play against the House represented by the croupier or dealer. The dealer is responsible for spinning the wheel, taking the wagers made by the other players, and making the payouts. While the European roulette wheel has 37 slots representing 36 numbers and one zero, the American version of the game has two zeros and hence 38 slots.

Colored Chips

Each player buys chips of different colors so that their bets don’t get mixed up. These betting chips come in several denominations and in various colors. At the end of the game, when you are ready to quit you can take these chips to the cash desk where you can exchange them for cash.

How does roulette Work?

The players place their bets on numbers of their choice in the table layout. Once everybody at the table has placed their bets, the croupier starts the spin launching the ball along the spinning wheel. Just a few minutes before the ball is about the drop over the slots, the croupier declares ‘no more bets’. From that point onward, none of the players at the table are allowed to place any more bets. Changing existing bets on the table is also not allowed. After the ball drops into the slot, the croupier places the dolly on the winning number on the roulette table and clears all the losing bets. This is followed by making payouts to all the winning players. The winning bets are those that have been placed on or around the number that came up a winner. Also the bets on the outside of the layout win, if the winning number is represented.

Roulette: the House Advantage

If you are playing on a European roulette table with a single zero, the House advantage is 2.7% while a double zero table has a House advantage of 5.26%. The House advantage is gained by paying the winners a chip or two less than what it should have been if there was no advantage.

Object of the casino game

To win at roulette you need to predict the winning number after each spin of the wheel. Of course this is not easy to do and lady luck usually plays a large part in determining the success of your play. Different players prefer to play in different ways. Some players back winning numbers calling them ‘hot numbers’. They figure that these numbers are more likely to come up more often. Others prefer to bet on those numbers that have not come up for some time figuring that their turn is now due. Some players bet on several numbers to increase their chances of winning on every spin. However, in this method the payout is considerably reduced.

Did you know?

And here’s an interesting tidbit of information - in every casino it is customary for the croupier to start the first spin of the day by placing the ball in the number slot of the date of that day.