download (1)Roulette is a casino game named after a French diminutive for little wheel. In the game, players may choose to place bets on either a single number or a range of numbers, the colors red or black, or whether the number is odd or even.

Roulette was first played in France back in the 17th century. It is now one of the most popular European gambling games and Monte Carlo in Monaco is a well known and famous casino centre for playing roulette.

The Basics
Players, usually up to eight, play against the House represented by the croupier also called the dealer, who spins the roulette wheel and handles the wagers and payouts. In the European roulette and French roulette version, the wheel has 37 slots representing 36 numbers and one zero. In the USA most roulette wheels have two zeros and therefore 38 slots.

Each player buys-in a different coloured chips so their bets don’t get mixed up. At the end of play, if you won, you exchange back the colorued chips with cash chips. These are special chips with the value amount imprinted on them. There are several denominations in various colours. You then take these chips to the cash desk where they will give you actual cash money in exchange.

To play roulette, you place your bet or bets on numbers (any number including the zero) in the table layout or on the outside, and when everybody at the table had a chance to place their bets, the croupier starts the spin and launches the ball. Just a few moments before the ball is about to drop over the slots, the croupier says ‘no more bets’. From that moment no one is allowed to place – or change – their bets until the ball drops on a slot. Only after the croupier places the dolly on the winning number on the roulette table and clears all the losing bets you can then start placing your new bets while the croupier pays the winners. The winners are those bets that are on or around the number that comes up. Also the bets on the outside of the layout win if the winning number is represented.

Rules of Play

Roulette players have a variety of betting options. Placing inside bets is either selecting the exact number of the pocket the ball will land in, or a small range of pockets based on their proximity on the layout. Players wishing to bet on the ‘outside’ will select bets on larger positional groupings of pockets, the pocket color, or whether the winning number is odd or even. The payout odds for each type of bet are based on its probability.

The roulette table usually imposes minimum and maximum bets, and these rules usually apply separately for all of a player’s inside and outside bets for each spin. For inside bets at roulette tables, some casinos may use separate roulette table chips of various colors to distinguish players at the table. Players can continue to place bets as the ball spins around the wheel until the dealer announces no more bets or rien ne va plus.

When a winning number and color is determined by the roulette wheel, the dealer will place a marker, also known as a dolly, on that winning number on the roulette table layout. When the dolly is on the table, no players may place bets, collect bets, or remove any bets from the table. The dealer will then sweep away all other losing bets either by hand or rake, and determine all of the payouts to the remaining inside and outside winning bets. When the dealer is finished making payouts, the marker is removed from the board where players collect their winnings and make new bets. The winning chips remain on the board.

Types of bets

Inside bets

Straight (or Single)
a single number bet. The chip is placed entirely on the middle of a number square.
Split
a bet on two adjoining numbers, either on the vertical or horizontal (as in 14-17 or 8-9). The chip is placed on the line between these numbers.
Street
a bet on three numbers on a single horizontal line. The chip is placed on the edge of the line of a number at the end of the line (either the left or the right, depending on the layout).
Corner (or Square)
a bet on four numbers in a square layout (as in 11-12-14-15). The chip is placed at the horizontal and vertical intersection of the lines between the four numbers.
Six line (or Double Street)
a bet on two adjoining streets, with the chip placed at the corresponding intersection, as if in between where two street bets would be placed.
Trio
a bet on the intersecting point between 0, 1 and 2, or 0, 2 and 3 (single-zero layout only).
Basket (or the first four)
(non-square corner) a bet on 0, 1, 2, and 3 (single-zero layout only).
Basket
a bet on 0, 1, and 2; 0, 00, and 2; or 00, 2, and 3 (double-zero layout only). The chip is placed at the intersection of the three desired numbers.
Top line
a bet on 0, 00, 1, 2, and 3 (double-zero layout only). The chip is placed either at the corner of 0 and 1, or the corner of 00 and 3.

 images (1)Outside bets

Outside bets typically have smaller payouts with better odds at winning.

1 to 18 (Manque)
a bet on one of the first low eighteen numbers coming up.
19 to 36 (Passe)
a bet on one of the latter high eighteen numbers coming up.
Red or black (Rouge ou Noir)
a bet on which color the roulette wheel will show.
Even or odd (Pair ou Impair)
a bet on an even or odd nonzero number.
Dozen bets
a bet on the first (1-12, Premiere douzaine (P12)), second (13-24, Moyenne douzaine (M12)), or third group (25-36, Dernière douzaine (D12)) of twelve numbers.
Column bets
a bet on all 12 numbers on any of the three vertical lines (such as 1-4-7-10 on down to 34). The chip is placed on the space below the final number in this string.
Snake Bet
Essentially a special dozen bet consisting of a bet of the following numbers: 1, 5, 9, 12, 14, 16, 19, 23, 27, 30, 32, and 34. Some gambling “experts” consider it a so-called sucker bet as they claim that the player has to bet a unit on each of those numbers, yet this theory (as with many gambling theories) is not true as any bet on the table has exactly the same house edge. However, some casinos which allow the snake bet (not all casinos do) allow the table minimum to be bet on the snake by placing the bet on the lower corner of the 34 spot which touches the 19-36 even money bet. On some layouts the “snake bet” is marked and depicted as a two-headed snake, with one head at one end of the “body” above and to the left left of the 1 and the other at the end of the “body” below and to the left of the 34. On these layouts the bet is placed on one of the heads.

Roulette Bets

Much of the interest in Roulette derives from the the number of different bets that can be made and their associated odds. The basic bets are the same for all forms of modern Roulette.

French name English name Description Odds Chip Location / Information
Rouge Red A red number Evens
Noir Black A black number Evens
Pair Even Even number Evens
Impair Odd Odd Number Evens
Manque Low Bet 1 – 18 Evens Manque is French for “failed” and is used because the ball has failed to pass 18.
Passe High Bet 19 – 36 Evens Passe is so named because it has “passed” the centrepoint.
Premiere Douzaine First Dozen 1 – 12 2 to 1 On the French-style mat, the square marked 12P
Moyenne Douzaine Middle Dozen 13 – 24 2 to 1 On the French-style mat, the square marked 12M
Dernier Douzaine Last Dozen 25 – 36 2 to 1 On the French-style mat, the square marked 12D
Colonne Column Bet A column of twelve numbers 2 to 1 The special square at the end of one of the three columns of twelve numbers.
Sixain Line Bet Six Numbers 5 to 1 Place the stake on the intersection of the edge of two rows of three numbers to bet on those 2 rows
Carre Corner Bet Four Numbers 8 to 1 Place the stake at the intersection of a square of four numbers
Carre Simple or Transversale Street Bet A row of Three Numbers 11 to 1 Half way over the line forming the end of the row of three numbers to be bet upon
En Chaval Split Bet A pair of numbers 17 to 1 Place the stake across the line dividing the two numbers to be bet upon
En plein Straight Up A single number 35 to 1 Place the stake in the box showing the number concerned. It is allowable to bet on zero.