How to Play Roulette
“Place your bets!” This is usually the famous phrase that Roulette players around the world look forward to hearing. Roulette is a game of theory and chance, with numerous strategies formulated by mathematicians and experienced players all seeking to figure exactly where the ball will land.
The design of the game is quite simple – a wheel is spun in one direction, a ball in the other and once gravity takes over the ball lands in one of the thirty seven or thirty eight holes. Each hole is assigned a color and a number, and players try to place their bet on the correct results.
While this seems very simple, in fact there are a great many variations to the theme that can win a player hefty return. Bets can be placed on the exact number that results, or they can select a range of numbers. They can choose simply red or black, and they can choose whether the number is going to be odd or even.
In order to place a bet the player must be standing at the Roulette table, and place their bet in the correct place of the “layout” – which is a color coded chart of all the possible winning scenarios on the wheel.
Because there are two styles of wheels, the Single Zero (European) and the Double Zero (American) the “layout” for each will be slightly different. For this explanation the standard American “Double Zero” layout will be used.
Betting is done for “inside” bets and “outside” bets. The inside bets tend to have the highest payouts, because their probability of occurring is less likely than outside bets. Inside bets designate very specific numbers, such as a single number, a series of two, three or six numbers or a corner series where the bet is placed on the layout table at the horizontal and vertical intersection of the lines between four numbers such as ten, eleven, thirteen and fourteen.
Outside bets have a much more general outcome, such as a wager on numbers nineteen to thirty-six, which is a great deal more likely to win money than a wager on one single number. Outside bets may also include a red or black, or an entire column on the layout table.
Players may also wager on the zeroes. Which offer the largest payout amounts on the table, meaning thirty five to one on their bet. This means a player who bets a single dollar chip on the double zero will receive thirty-five dollars if the double zero is where the ball lands.
Any players can continue placing wagers on the table until the dealer says “no more bets” at which point he or she spins the wheel and the players wait for the outcome.
There are numerous “strategies” and theories that players believe can deliver bigger odds of winning. Some involve betting strategies and some even involve teams “clocking” wheels to see if their speeds are different and then benefiting from that knowledge.
However a player decides to take their chances at the wheel, Roulette continues to be one of the most popular casino games throughout the world, as well as in the online gaming environment.