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. 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. Now lets take a look at each of the individual bets you can make. Street bet - this is a bet not unlike a split.
It allows you to bet on three different numbers with the same bet. The outside bets on a roulette board are
simply the bets that reside 'outside' of the main playing area of 38 numbers. When you place an outside
bet your bet must meet the table minimum. There
are the different types of outside bets. 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. 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? There's no advantage to
limiting yourself to inside or outside. When you buy in, tell the dealer what denomination you want. Roulette games have minimum bets, which will be posted on a
placard at the table. Minimum bets work differently for inside and outside bets. You can certainly switch to
another number if you want, but that won't improve or worsen your chances. It's more important to know what the house edge is, than how to calculate
it, but here's a quick analysis in case you're interested. On an American wheel,
there are 38 spots - numbers 1-36, plus 0 and 00. if you win, the
casino doesn't pay you 37 to 1, they pay you less - 35 to 1. 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) The
last time we checked, Single 0 Roulette was available at the Stratosphere and
the Monte Carlo on the Vegas Strip. On even money bets when 0 comes up, instead of losing right
away, your bet is "imprisoned" and rides again for the next spin. You don't get paid for the win, though, but it's better than losing
it outright.