At this point the dealer will say 'place your bets' and everyone at the table will start throwing chips down like crazy. 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. You trade in your checks (which most people think of as regular casino chips, but they're actually called checks) for roulette chips when a new session starts, and the dealer assigns you a number and denomination. Most roulette sessions move at a fairly slow pace, to accommodate the number of people betting, and the variety on which they can bet. If you have a player you likes to put down twenty different bets each time they play, the sessions are going to move a little slower. After the ball has started spinning, the dealer will wave his hands across the table and say 'no more bets'. 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. This is different than inside bets, where the total of all of your inside bets must meet the table minimum. Columns - at one end of the set of 38 numbers are boxes with the words '2 to 1' written in them. Dozens - a bet very similar to the columns bet, dozens lets you place a bet on either the first dozen numbers (1-12), the second dozen (13-24), or the third dozen (25-36)

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. That way if two players bet on the same number (or set of numbers), then the dealer knows who to pay, and arguments can't arise over who bet what. Sometimes the dealer will ask you "Inside or Outside? That way, you're not locked in and you always have the ability to change your mind. 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. It's important to understand that the outcome of the roulette wheel is truly random. There's an old saying, "The wheel has no memory. " 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. There have been 152 spins (coincidentally, 4 x 38), and so we expect that each number should have come up 4 times on average. The wheel has no memory. 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. The difference between the true odds and what they actually pay you is 2/38, or 5.26%. The European wheel has a lower house edge (2.63%) because it has only 37 slots instead of 38 (no 00) If you play Roulette, the most important thing is to find a casino that offers the European wheel (which is called "Single 0" Roulette)