How to Play Roulette

Roulette is one of the most popular casino games throughout the world today. Entering a casino you will notice the Roulette table is the loudest and most hands on game in the casino. While playing this entertaining hands on game, players can choose to place bets on a specific number, a group of numbers, one of two colors (traditionally red and black), or the winning number being odd or even. Simply by buying into the table, meaning exchanging your money for casino chips at the Roulette table.

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Tables will often have a minimum and maximum bet amount on the inside and outside. A common brick and mortar casino will have $1 minimum bets on the inside and $10 minimum on the outside. Players are given a different type of casino chips to play the inside on the roulette table and given the normal casino chips to play the outside.

There are many different types of bets that can be made and they are listed below. First off let’s take a look on how to place a bet when playing. At a Roulette table it can become quite crowded so it vital that you have some chipping skills. If you are uncomfortable with handling chips, playing higher chip denominations is a good idea. So, instead of handling 100 chips valued at $1 you could be using 20 chips valued at $5 each. This will definitely speed up your time when placing bets.

To actually place a bet with a $5 inside chip I would simply place the chip on the number I think it will hit on the felt. If the table is too busy and I can not reach I would lightly toss the chip towards the dealer and say $5 on red 23. Just make sure that you place your bets before the dealer waves their hand saying no more bets.

The winning number is determined by a dealer spinning a ball along the track along the outside of the roulette wheel. The wheel spins in the opposite direction, and as the ball loses speed, it drops down into the base of the wheel, and into one of the numbered slots. The slots are numbered 1-36, with at least one “Zero” slot, sometimes two.

People playing roulette, as outlined above, have a variety of options to wager on. “Inside” bets are typically the most popular, and can be placed a few different ways as listed below:

Straight up: In these bets, players place a bet on an exact number to be the winner. This is the highest paying bet, yet also the least likely to win.

Split: Splits are bets on two adjoining numbers, either on a vertical or horizontal line (as in 1-2, or 1-4). The wagered chip is placed on the line separating the two numbers.

Corner: Corner bets, also known as square bets, are placed on the intersection of a horizontal and vertical line on the layout so the chip covers four numbers. For example, the chip can be placed to touch 1, 2, 4, and 5. If any of these numbers comes in, the bet is a winner.

Street: A bet on three numbers in any single horizontal line. The chip is placed on the line of a number at the end of the line, which can be either the left or right side depending on the wheel. 1-2-3 is an example of a street bet, but there are 12 different options.

Alley: Alley bets, also known as Six Line, are placed on two adjoining streets. This bet covers two streets, which would be a total of six numbers. It is essentially a “split” version of a street bet.

Trio: A bet on either the intersecting points of 0, 1, and 2, or 0, 2, and 3.

Outside Bets:

Outside bets are substantially more likely of winning, yet pay substantially less. Here are the varieties of outside bets:

1 to 18: Wagers placed here are predicting the winning number will be on the lower eighteen numbers (1-18).

19 to 38: A wager here is predicting the winner to be in the high 18 numbers, which are 19-38.

Red or Black (typically): A bet on which color the winning number will be.

Even or Odd: Quite self-explanatory, a bet whether the winner will be an even or odd number.

Dozen bets: Dozen bets, or “thirds”, cover either the first 12 numbers of the layout (1-12), 2nd 12 (13-24), or 3rd 12 (25-36).

Column bets: Column bets cover the same amount of numbers as dozen bets, but are placed below one of the three vertical lines, covering all lines above the wager.