Roulette is a game played at most brick-and-mortar casinos as well as online casinos. As such, it’s worth knowing the rules and various ins and outs of the game. In this guide, you can learn how to play roulette from the basics. For the most part, roulette is simple. A ball spins around a wheel and lands in a numbered space. As the player, you will place bets on where you think the ball will land.
Different Types of Bets
At the roulette table, there may often be times where the betting terminology could confuse you. There are two main variations of roulette: European and American. Essentially they are the same, however American roulette includes an extra zero spot, called the double zero. Here is a short list of the various betting options:
Inside Bets:
- Straight up: place your chip directly onto a number (1 number covered)
- Split: place your chip between two numbers (2 numbers covered)
- Street bet: place your chip at the end of any row of numbers (3 numbers covered)
- Corner bet: place your chip at the intersection of 4 numbers (4 numbers covered)
- Line bet: place your chip at the end of two rows on the intersection between them (6 numbers covered)
Outside Bets:
- Column bet: place your chip on the ‘2 to 1’ box (12 numbers covered)
- Dozen bet: place your chip in one of the boxes marked 1st 12, 2nd 12, or 3rd 12 (12 numbers covered)
- Red/black: place your chip on red or black (18 numbers covered)
- Odd/even: place your chip on odd or even (18 numbers covered)
- First half/second half: place your chip on 1-18 or 19-36 (18 numbers covered)
Remember that the zero and double zero are not covered by any outside bets.
These are the bets available at most variations of roulette. There are, as with most games, adaptations that include side bets some unique aspect to set it apart from original roulette, however, the bets above are fairly standard.
Understanding the bets is not as important as their odds and what your dividends may be. The highest-paid odds come from placing a chip directly onto a number. Here, you will be paid out 35 to 1.
This table should help you better understand the odds of winning in roulette:
| Bet type | Payout | Winning odds
(French or European) |
Winning odds
(American ) |
| Outside Bet | |||
| Even/Odd | 1:1 | 48.65% | 47.37% |
| Black/Red | 1:1 | 48.65% | 47.37% |
| 1-18 (LOW) | 1:1 | 48.65% | 47.37% |
| 19-36 (HIGH) | 1:1 | 48.65% | 47.37% |
| 1-12 (DOZEN) | 2:1 | 32.43% | 31.58% |
| 13-24 (DOZEN) | 2:1 | 32.43% | 31.58% |
| 25-36 (DOZEN) | 2:1 | 32.43% | 31.58% |
| 2 to 1 (COLUMN) | 2:1 | 32.43% | 31.58% |
| Inside Bet | |||
| Single (1 number) | 35:1 | 2.70% | 2.63% |
| Split (2 numbers) | 17:1 | 5.41% | 5.26% |
| Street (3 numbers) | 11:1 | 8.11% | 7.89% |
| Corner (4 numbers) | 8:1 | 10.81% | 10.53% |
| Line (6 numbers) | 5:1 | 16.22% | 15.79% |
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