Each roulette table moves in sessions, each session is associated with a spin of the wheel and that spin's result. At this point the dealer will say 'place your bets' and everyone at the table will start throwing chips down like crazy. 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. 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. 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. 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)

You should always calculate your expected loss and how long you can play on a given bankroll before playing any game, but with roulette it's especially important. 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 will likely lose money faster the more bets you make, because you're betting more. 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. Sometimes the dealer will ask you "Inside or Outside? Roulette chips can in fact be any denomination - $1, $5, $25, etc. 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) 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! It's important to understand that the outcome of the roulette wheel is truly random. 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. 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) 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. 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.