The game of roulette is a simple game to play, there are very few rules you have to remember, and it is simply the player versus the house, so the other players at the roulette table have no bearing on the outcome of your bets.
To begin, you will be given chips to play with after handing over how much you want to bet in this session. If you’re playing online, it will be done automatically for you, so there’s no need to worry there.
Once you have your chips, you have to decide on what you want to be on. There are lots of different bets for you to bet on when playing roulette, and each one has their own rule attached to them.
One number: The ball has to land on the one number you have a chip on. You can bet on as many numbers as you like on the table, and if the ball lands on it, you get 35x your stake as winnings. If the ball lands on a number you don’t have a chip on, your bet loses.
Split: Place your chip on the line between two adjacent numbers (such as 1&4 or 34&35), and you have covered them both. Effectively, your stake is split on each number. If the ball lands on either number, your bet wins and you win 17 times your stake back. If the ball lands on a number that you haven’t covered in your split bets, your bet loses. You can bet on as many splits as you want on the table.
Street: A street bet is a bet that covers 3 numbers on a row. So, that could be 1, 2 & 3, or 10, 11 & 12 or any of those rows. You place your chip at the edge of each row you want to cover, splitting your stake between each number, essentially, and if the ball lands on any of those numbers, your bet wins. If the ball lands on any number you have not covered, you lose. You can bet on as many rows as you want.
Corner: A corner bet is a bet that covers 4 numbers that have boxes with corners that meet. An example of this would be 1, 2, 4 & 5. This means your stake is effectively split between 4 numbers. Place your chip where all four numbers meet in the middle. If the ball lands on any of the four numbers in the square of numbers, your bet wins. If the balls lands on a number whose corner you haven’t covered, your bet loses.
Six Line: A six line bet is very similar to a street bet, but it covers two adjacent rows. So, it would be 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6, or it could be 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 & 9. You can bet on as many six lines as you like, splitting your stake between all 6 numbers. To bet on a six line, you place your chip at the edge of both rows, where they meet at the corner. If the balls lands in any of the numbers on your six line bet, you win. If the ball lands elsewhere, your bet loses.
Column: A column bet is a bet that is on a column of number. The roulette table is split into three rows, and you can be on any of them, two of them, or if you’re determined to lose money in the long run, you can bet on them all. Place your chip in the box at the bottom of the column you want to bet on. Your bet covers 12 numbers, and you win if the ball lands on any of the numbers in the column you have bet on. If the number the ball lands on is in another column, your bet loses.
Dozens: You can bet on a specified dozen of numbers – 1-12, 13-24 or 25-36. Each dozen has a specified box on the roulette table, and to bet on one, you place your chip inside it. You can bet on one dozen, two dozen, or again, if you’re determined to lose money, you can bet on all three. If the number the ball lands in is in your dozen numbers, your bet wins. If it’s in a dozen that you have not covered, your bet loses.
Odd/Even: You can also bet on the number the ball lands on being odd or even. Both have set boxes on the table to bet on, and to bet on it you place your chip in the relevant box. You can bet on both if you want, but I would not advise it. If you bet on odd and the ball lands on an odd number, you win. The same applies to a bet on the even numbers. If you bet on odd and the number is even, you lose. Again, the same applies if you bet on an even number.
Red/Black: As well as being able to bet on the number being odd and even, you can also bet on whether the number will be red or black. Each number has a colour assigned to it – 18 numbers are red and 18 are black. Like the odd/even bet, red and black bets have their own boxes on the roulette table, usually with a block of the colour in it. If you want to bet on red, put your chip in the red box, and put them in the black box if you want to bet on black. If the number the ball lands in has the colour that corresponds to your bet, you win. And if it lands in the other colour, you lose.
1-18/19-36: The other 50/50 bet you can have on the roulette table is on the first half or second half. Again, like the other 50/50 bets, they have designated boxes on the roulette table, and to bet on them, you simply put your chip in the relevant box. You can bet on the numbers 1-18 inclusive or the numbers 19-36 inclusive. If the number the ball lands on falls in your set of numbers, you win. If they fall in the other set, your bet loses.
And really, those are the main rules to remember – if the ball lands on a number you have covered, you win. If it doesn’t, you don’t.
The only other thing to remember is that you have to put your bets on in a timely manner. You can place your bets once the table has been cleared of the previous spin’s bets, and you can place them until the dealer says “No more bets,” or something similar.
You should also note the table’s minimum and maximum bets, known as “table limits”. You can not bet less than the table’s minimum, and you can not bet any more than the table maximum.
Roulette Rules for Dummies
Roulette is an easy game to understand and play, which is why it is so popular worldwide. There are different variations of roulette, but they all share the same basic rules. I’ll explain the different games after but first lets start with the basics.
Roulette: The Basics
The dealer, also known as “The Croupier”, takes care of all aspects of the game from the spinning of the wheel to the collection of losing bets, and the payouts of winning ones. Each table will have a minimum and maximum bet amount, these represent the lowest and highest amount you’re allowed to bet each spin.
Some tables have different minimum and maximum depending on if you’re betting inside or outside, inside being any numbers (0,00,1-36), outside being everything else. Roulette chips are different than normal casino chips due to the fact the player determines the value of their chips, usually the table minimum, and each player has the own color of chip.
The Croupier spins the wheel in one direction and rolls the ball in the other, eventually the ball will lose momentum and fall into one of the marked slots on the wheel. You can place bets up until the croupier announces, “No more bets” at which point you CANNOT place anymore bets and it is just a matter of waiting to see where the ball landed and seeing how you made out. The croupier will place a marker on the winning number and payout accordingly. That’s pretty much all there is to it, see, I told you it was easy. Now for the other variations:
American Roulette
The main difference between American Roulette and other versions is that it has both 0, and 00, changing the odds in favor of the casino, thus being one of the most unfavorable versions to play. For a detailed description of American Roulette, how it works and where to play American Roulette online, click here: American Roulette.
European Roulette:
European Roulette is different from American for numerous reasons, first and most important being that there is only one 0 on the table, instead of both 0 and 00. The second reason is the inclusion of the “La Partage” and the “En Prison” rules. These rules come into effect if the ball lands in zero, while betting an even money bet. Both rules significantly decrease the house edge and are why it’s the most favorable version to play by players around the world. For more information on European Roulette, including where to play European Roulette online, click here: European Roulette.
French Roulette:
Very similar to European Roulette, the major difference being the added “Finale” betting option, the croupier is known as a “Stickman” and the table layout is different than American and European but the main rules are the same. Considering the game was invented in France its only fitting that the French version would be the most complex. See my French Roulette article for more details.
Wild Viking Roulette:
By combining Roulette and Poker, this game is an exciting and welcome variation of Roulette and is usually linked to a progressive jackpot, adding a whole other element to the game.