Each roulette table moves in
sessions, each session is associated with a spin of the wheel and that spin's
result. If you haven't read up on the rest of the site I'll
quickly go over the different colors of chips and how they relate to the rest of
the roulette rules. 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. On inside bets, the total of all
of your bets must add up to at least the table minimum. 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. 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. Fiver number bet - there
is only one five number bet available. There are no winning outside bets for 0 or 00 results. Red or Black - you can choose to bet on
the outcome either being a red number, or a black number.
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. You should always calculate your expected
loss and how long you can play on a given bankroll before playing any game, but
with roulette it's especially important. For most bets it's fairly obvious - you can't miss the
Red diamond for Red bets, and things like Even, 1-18, and 1st 12 are written out
in plain English. When the ball falls into a slot, the dealer will announce the
number and the color, and place a marker on the layout where the winning number
is. 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. All the bets on the layout carry the same house edge, with the exception
of 5-number Line Bet (0, 00, 1, 2, 3), which carries a whopping 7.29% edge! Black and Red still have equal chances of hitting. " 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. The wheel has no memory. 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. On an American wheel,
there are 38 spots - numbers 1-36, plus 0 and 00. Your odds of winning a
one-number bet are 37 to 1 (37 ways to lose, 1 way to win) If you play Roulette, the most important thing is to find a casino that
offers the European wheel (which is called "Single 0" Roulette) The
last time we checked, Single 0 Roulette was available at the Stratosphere and
the Monte Carlo on the Vegas Strip. 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. If
you win the second spin, your bet is "released from prison" and you
get it back. In effect, this variation has the ability to turn a loss into a tie.