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. Most roulette sessions move at a fairly slow pace, to accommodate the number of
people betting, and the variety on which they can bet. 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. 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. The outside bets on a roulette board are
simply the bets that reside 'outside' of the main playing area of 38 numbers. This is different than inside bets,
where the total of all of your inside bets must meet the table minimum. There
are the different types of outside bets.
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. Making a bet is easy - you just place your chip(s) on the number(s), color, or
sets you want to bet on. 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) You don't have to make just one kind of bet for
each spin, you can make several, and you win if the ball lands on any of your
numbers. In most games players can continue
making bets even while the ball is still spinning. 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. Inside bets can
usually be as small a you like, as long as the total of all your inside bets is
the table minimum. 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) There's an old saying,
"The wheel has no memory. Now let's say
you've been playing Roulette for a few hours, betting on Red every time, and
you've been keeping track of what numbers have hit. The wheel has no memory. You can certainly switch to
another number if you want, but that won't improve or worsen your chances. Your odds of winning a
one-number bet are 37 to 1 (37 ways to lose, 1 way to win) 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. You don't get paid for the win, though, but it's better than losing
it outright. In effect, this variation has the ability to turn a loss into a tie.