Each roulette table moves in sessions, each session is associated with a spin of the wheel and that spin's result. Each player plays with their own color chips. All of your chips of the same color are worth the same amount. When the new session starts you can put your chips down where you want to bet, and you don't really have to be in a hurry. Straight-up bet - this is the classic roulette bet. Choose any one of the 38 numbers and put your chips down on that number for the chance to win back at 35 to 1. Split bet - you can place a single bet on two individual numbers if those numbers are beside each other on the table layout. Street bet - this is a bet not unlike a split. It allows you to bet on three different numbers with the same bet. There are no winning outside bets for 0 or 00 results. Odd or Even - similar to the red black bet, this even money bet is based on whether the resulting number will be odd or even. Columns - at one end of the set of 38 numbers are boxes with the words '2 to 1' written in them.

In most games players can continue making bets even while the ball is still spinning. New players often have to be told this repeatedly the first time they play because they kept forgetting and because they're excited about collecting their winnings. Each player's chips are a different color. Sometimes the dealer will ask you "Inside or Outside? If you're asked Inside or Outside, always answer "Both", even if you only intend to bet one or the other. Roulette chips can in fact be any denomination - $1, $5, $25, etc. Minimum bets work differently for inside and outside bets. For outside bets, any bet you make has to be the table minimum. It's important to understand that the outcome of the roulette wheel is truly random. " That means it doesn't know what it spun before, and even if it did, the wheel can't select what number comes up out of its own volition. Now let's say you've been playing Roulette for a few hours, betting on Red every time, and you've been keeping track of what numbers have hit. The chances of #27 coming up on a given spin are the same, whether it just come up on the last spin or not - 1 in 38. It's more important to know what the house edge is, than how to calculate it, but here's a quick analysis in case you're interested. Your odds of winning a one-number bet are 37 to 1 (37 ways to lose, 1 way to win) The difference between the true odds and what they actually pay you is 2/38, or 5.26%. Atlantic City has a special rule which reduces the house edge to 2.7% on even money bets (Red/Black, Odd/Even, 1-18/19-36): If 0 or 00 comes up on on even money bet, you lose only half your bet. European games have an option called en prison which reduces the house edge to 1.35%, but it's generally not available in the U.S., even in casinos that use the European wheel.