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. When the new session starts you can put your
chips down where you want to bet, and you don't really have to be in a hurry. 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. There aren't many specific things that can be
considered roulette rules at the table, but here's one you shouldn't forget. After the ball has started spinning, the dealer will wave his hands across the
table and say 'no more bets'. 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. Odd or Even - similar
to the red black bet, this even money bet is based on whether the resulting
number will be odd or even.
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. In most games players can continue
making bets even while the ball is still spinning. When the ball is getting
ready to drop, the dealer will wave his hand over the table, which means "No
more bets". Then he'll scoop up all the losing bets towards the dealer area. 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. For outside bets, any bet you make has to be the table minimum. In this way, Roulette is more like slots - one single bet can
win a lot. " 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. Here's another example: Since there are 38 slots on the wheel,
we expect any given number to hit 1 out of 38 spins on average. Your odds of winning a
one-number bet are 37 to 1 (37 ways to lose, 1 way to win) if you win, the
casino doesn't pay you 37 to 1, they pay you less - 35 to 1. If you play Roulette, the most important thing is to find a casino that
offers the European wheel (which is called "Single 0" Roulette) The
last time we checked, Single 0 Roulette was available at the Stratosphere and
the Monte Carlo on the Vegas Strip. 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. European games have an option called en prison which reduces the house edge
to 1.35%, but it's generally not available in the U.S., even in casinos that use
the European wheel. You don't get paid for the win, though, but it's better than losing
it outright.