The first thing you should know before you learn anything about the bets you
can make, is when and how you can make those bets. Each roulette table moves in
sessions, each session is associated with a spin of the wheel and that spin's
result. A session ends when the ball lands where it may, and the dealers clear
the board of losing bets (and pay winning ones of course) Each player plays with their own color chips. 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. All of your chips of the same
color are worth the same amount. The
inside bets are made up of specific numbers or combinations of numbers within
the number layout, or along the border of it. Split bet - you
can place a single bet on two individual numbers if those numbers are beside
each other on the table layout. 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. When you place an outside
bet your bet must meet the table minimum.
Roulette is the game where you guess where the little marble is going to drop
on the spinning wheel. 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. 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. " when you're buying chips, to find
out whether you're making inside bets (the ones listed in purple in the table,
on specific numbers) or outside bets (the ones listed in yellow, on kinds of
numbers) 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. In other games the color of the chip
denotes the denomination, but in Roulette the color denotes only which player
the chip belongs to. Roulette games have minimum bets, which will be posted on a
placard at the table. It most other games a bet usually wins only even money, but
Roulette gives you the chance to win 35 times your bet (a winning bet placed on
a single number) 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! " 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 European
wheel has a lower house edge (2.63%) because it has only 37 slots instead of 38
(no 00) 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. On even money bets when 0 comes up, instead of losing right
away, your bet is "imprisoned" and rides again for the next spin.