Roulette, known by some as the “King of Casino Games”, is one of the more popular and widely known casino games, especially in Europe where it is one of the mainstays of casinos there. While not as popular in American casinos, it can still draw a good many players, some attracted by the mystique and charm of a spinning roulette wheel. This casino game is played on a roulette table, consisting of a roulette wheel on one side, and a betting area called the layout on the other. A variation of the roulette table, one more commonly found in Monte Carlo, has the roulette wheel at the center of a long table, flanked with two layouts at its sides.

The Wheel

There are two kinds of roulette wheels. The French wheel has 37 colored and numbered pockets, numbered 0 to 36, while the American wheel has 38 pockets, numbered 0 to 36, with an additional pocket marked 00. In both types of wheels, the pockets numbered 1 to 10 and 19 to 28 have even numbers colored red, while the odd numbers are black. The remaining numbers reverse this, with even numbers colored black, and odd numbers colored red. The 0 and 00 pockets are green.

The Layout

The layout is the area on a roulette table where players place their bets. It has two betting areas, the inside and outside areas. The inside betting area has spaces or boxes for all the numbers on the wheel, while the outside area has boxes for the other kinds of bets: columns, red, black, odd, even, as well as groups of numbers. The inside numbers are typically arranged in twelve rows with three numbers each, with the 0 and 00 at the top of the columns.

The Basics Of Roulette

Players begin a round by placing bets on the layout, and may place as many bets as they desire on whatever boxes and spaces on the layout as they wish. The dealer at the casino then spins the wheel in one direction, and spins the roulette ball in the other direction. Players may continue to place bets on the layout until the dealer declares that no more bets are allowed. The ball will then eventually slow and fall into one of the pockets, determining the winner or winners of the round.

Types of Bets

Players may place as many different types and combinations of bets as they wish, limited only by how many chips they have. The kind of bet placed also determines the amount won, with the odds determined by the probability of the bet. There are two types of bets, the inside and the outside bet.

Inside Bets

An inside bet involves betting on one or more of the numbers on the roulette wheel. Bets may be placed on the number itself to denote a single number bet, while bets on number combinations may be placed on the line between different numbers. Unless specified, in bets other than single bets, the chips are placed on the intersection between the chosen numbers. A Straight or Single bet is a bet which gets placed on a single number. The bet is placed at the center of the numbered square. A Split Bet, also sometimes called a Two Number Bet, is a bet which gets placed on two numbers that are adjacent to each other on the inside area of the layout. A Street Bet, or a Three Number bet, is a bet which gets placed on three numbers on a horizontal line on the layout. This bet is placed on the line at the far edge of the row of numbers bet on. A Square Bet, sometimes also called a Corner Bet, is a bet which gets placed on four numbers that are adjacent to each other. A Double Street Bet, or Six Line Bet, is a bet which gets placed on adjacent streets, thus betting on six numbers. The bet is placed on the intersection between the edge, and the line separating the two streets. A Trio is a bet which gets placed on either 0,1 and 2, or 0, 2 and 3, on a French layout. A Basket Bet is a bet which gets placed on 0, 1, 2 and 3 on a French layout, or a bet placed on 0, 1, and 2, or 0, 00 and 2, or 00, 2 and 3 on an American layout. A Top Line Bet is a bet which gets placed on 0, 00, 1, 2 and 3 on an American layout. The bet may be placed either in the corner of 0 and 1, or at the corner of 00 and 3.

Outside Bets

An outside bet involves a bet on one of the boxes in the outside area of the layout, and denotes a bet on a specific condition or quality of the winning number. This kind of bet generally pays less, but also has a greater chance of winning. A bet on red/black or odd/even is a bet which gets placed on which color the winning number will be, or whether the number will be odd or even. This kind of bet loses if the ball lands on 0, or 00, though some casinos have special rules for this. A 1 to 18 or Low bet is a bet that the winning number will be from 1 to 18. Alternately, a 19 to 36 or High bet, is a bet that the winning number will be from 19 to 36. A Dozen Bet is a bet that the winning number will be from a particular dozen numbers. The dozen groups are 1 to 12, 13 to 24, and 25-36. A Column Bet is a bet that the winning number will be from a particular column on the layout. In this case, the bet is placed on the space at the end of the column of numbers.