At this point the dealer will say 'place your bets' and everyone at the table will start throwing chips down like crazy. Each player plays with their own color chips. Most roulette sessions move at a fairly slow pace, to accommodate the number of people betting, and the variety on which they can bet. The inside bets are made up of specific numbers or combinations of numbers within the number layout, or along the border of it. Corner bet - lets you bet on four adjoining numbers. Placing your chips at the point where four numbers meet will indicate you want a corner bet. There are the different types of outside bets. Red or Black - you can choose to bet on the outcome either being a red number, or a black number. 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. Low or High - this bet lets you predict whether you think the next number to come up will be part of the range from 1 to 18, or part of the range from 19 to 36. Columns - at one end of the set of 38 numbers are boxes with the words '2 to 1' written in them.

Roulette would be a great game were it not for the high house edge - usually 5.26%, sometimes as low as 2.63%, which is still higher than blackjack, craps, or baccarat. We've added blue circled letters to the diagram to point out how to make the not-so-obvious bets (the sets of 2-6 numbers) When the ball is getting ready to drop, the dealer will wave his hand over the table, which means "No more bets". Then he'll scoop up all the losing bets towards the dealer area. Don't reach for your winnings until the dealer removes the marker, or the dealer will scold you. 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. That way, you're not locked in and you always have the ability to change your mind. There's no advantage to limiting yourself to inside or outside. Roulette games have minimum bets, which will be posted on a placard at the table. For outside bets, any bet you make has to be the table minimum. Here's a handy way to remember the payouts when you're betting on a set of numbers: Take 36 divided by the quantity of numbers you're betting on, and subtract 1. 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. You can certainly switch to another number if you want, but that won't improve or worsen your chances. 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.