Each roulette table moves in
sessions, each session is associated with a spin of the wheel and that spin's
result. At this point the
dealer will say 'place your bets' and everyone at the table will start throwing
chips down like crazy. All of your chips of the same
color are worth the same amount. Just sit back and let the ball fall where
it may. Now lets take a look at each of the individual bets you can make. 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. 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. 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.
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. 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". 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. 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. 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! There's an old saying,
"The wheel has no memory. There have been 152 spins (coincidentally,
4 x 38), and so we expect that each number should have come up 4 times on
average. You can certainly switch to
another number if you want, but that won't improve or worsen your chances. 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) 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. In effect, this variation has the ability to turn a loss into a tie.