How to Play Roulette

Roulette might look complicated from a distance but it’s actually one of the simplest games in the casino. The entire premise is to guess where the ball will land after it’s dropped into the spinning roulette wheel. If you guess correctly, you win.

A roulette wheel is composed of 36 numbered slots that alternate between red and black in colors. In European roulette wheels, there is also a green 0 slot. American roulette wheels have both a 0 slot and a 00 slot.

The additional 00 slot in American roulette wheels results in American roulette having a higher house advantage than European roulette. Any time you have a choice between the two, play at the European roulette table. At the European roulette table, your bets are half as likely to end up in the non-paying green 0 slot.

You can place bets at the roulette table by placing your chips on a table layout next to the table. The table layout is just a list of all the numbered slots from the roulette wheel. You can place as many chips as you want on the layout and position them anywhere you want. You can even bet on groups of numbers by placing your chips on the intersecting lines between numbers.

After all the players have placed their bets, the roulette croupier will then set the wheel spinning and drop the roulette ball in. Eventually the wheel will come to a rest and the ball will land in one of the slots. The players with winning bets are then paid out and another round may begin.

Roulette Bets

You may place any of the following roulette bets by placing your chips in the appropriate area on the roulette area. The layout self-explanatory for most bets but if you can’t find the one you’re looking for, the croupier is always more than happy to help.

Outside Bets

Outside bets are placed along the outer edge of the roulette layout.

Odd / Even – A bet on whether the roulette ball will land on an odd number or even number. Pays 1 to 1.

Red / Black – A bet on whether the roulette ball will land in a red slot or black slot. Pays 1 to 1.

High / Low – A bet on the ball landing in the numbers 1-18 or 19-36. Pays 1 to 1.

Dozens – A bet on the ball landing in the numbers 1-12, 13-24 or 25-36. Pays 2 to 1.

Inside Bets

Inside bets are placed inside the roulette wheel on individual numbers or on groups of numbers.

Straight Up – A bet on a single number. Pays 35 to 1.

Split – A bet on a two number group. Pays 17 to 1.

Street – A bet on a group of three numbers. Pays 11 to 1.

Corner – A bet on a group of four numbers. Pays 8 to 1.

Five Number – A bet on a group of five numbers. Pays 6 to 1.

Double Street – A bet on a group of six numbers. Pays 5 to 1.