How to Play American Roulette

The “Americanized” version of the casino game Roulette is remarkably similar to its European cousin. The main difference between the games involves the wheel and the layout table.

A traditional Roulette wheel has the numbers one through thirty six imprinted on it, and each number has a corresponding slot or pocket to catch the Roulette ball. The numbers are shaded in either red or black in what would appear to be a random assortment. This is not random however; the numbers and the colors appear on the wheel as they do to insure the odds of the ball landing on a high/low, or even/odd number are distributed proportionately.

On the American Roulette wheel also appear two slots in green, one bearing a single zero and one with a double zero. The European wheel allows for only a single zero green slot on the wheel, and layout table.

While a player who wagers on these slots wins a thirty five to one return on their bet, all other bets are lost to the “house” or casino when these are spun. What this really means is that on an American Roulette wheel, with two green slots, a player’s chances are decreased even more than the European player’s, by that second, or double zero.

Most American Roulette tables will be in a green felt, with the black and red panel for wagers imprinted on its surface. Some French and European layout tables are in red with no distinction of which numbers are in black and which in red, which could be a bit confusing.

American Roulette has several ways a player can wager money on the spin of the wheel – some have great payouts because they are less likely to occur with great frequency, and some payout “even money” meaning a one to one return on the bet. An example of an even money bet is a player who places a five dollar chip on the “Red” diamond of the layout table. When the dealer spins and a red number comes up on the wheel, the player receives a five dollar award for their five dollar wager.

There are “types” of bets a Roulette player makes – inside and outside. The outside bets pay the lesser amounts to the winner because they are a much more general set of bets and include:

Red/Black bets – a wager on a specific color for a spin; pays one to one.
Odd/Even bets – a wager on an odd or even number on a spin; pays one to one.
High/Low bets – chip on the “1-18” or the “19-36” space and the correct number being spun from the group; pays one to one.
Dozen bets – chip on the “1-12”, the “13-24”, or the “25-36” space and the correct number being spun from the group; pays two to one.
Column bets – chip placed in the space at the bottom of one of the three columns on the layout table, and one of the correct numbers being spun; pays two to one.
Zero bets – even though this is an “outside” bet a wager on one of the zeroes pays a thirty five to one award.

Inside bets are much more specific with much larger payouts:

Straight bets – a single number bet; pays thirty five to one.
Split bets – chip straddling two numbers: pays seventeen to one.
Street bets – chip laid at end of one row on the panel; pays eleven to one.
Corner bets – chip laid on intersection of four numbers; pays eight to one.
Line bets – a six number bet with a chip placed on line between two “streets”; pays five to one.