The
Ins & Outs of Roulette
A
beginner's guide to playing the game • by Henry
Tamburin
Take
this short quiz to see what you really know about
roulette:
1.
The probability of any bet winning at roulette is
the same. T or F.
2.
An American roulette wheel has 36 numbers. T or F.
3.
After the roulette ball drops into a pocket, the dealer
immediately sweeps all losing bets. T or F.
4.
There is a total of 11 different roulette bets. T
or F.
5.
All the outside bets pay even money. T or F.
6.
A player who bets $1 straight up on numbers 2, 6,
and 10, plus $1 on red and $1 on odd, has met
the $5 minimum bet table requirement. T or F.
7.
The odds of a red number winning are 50/50. T or F.
8.
The European roulette wheel has one less number than
the American wheel. T or F.
9.
If a red number has won the last 10 spins in a row,
the next spin is more likely to be black number. T
or F.
10.
Atlantic City casinos have a surrender rule in roulette.
T or F.
11.
The
five number bet is the worst bet on a European wheel.
T or F.
12.
The table layout has numbers arranged in the same
order as the wheel. T or F.
13.
Roulette chips can be redeemed at the cashier’s
window. T or F.
14.
To avoid confusion, roulette players in American and
European casinos are assigned their own colored chips
to bet with. T or F.
15.
There are no progressive betting systems that will
alter the casino’s edge in roulette. T or F.
Answers:
Questions 4, 8, 10, and 15 are true. The rest are
false. For detailed answers, read on!
Roulette
is a great, and somewhat glamorous, casino game. It
has the advantage over other table games in that there
are less decisions per hour (e.g. slower pace), and
the amount of your bets and where you place them has
no effect on other player bets (i.e. non-intimidating).
History
reveals that roulette was first played some 200 years
ago in France. Its precursors were the Italian game
of biribi and the English game of Roly-poly. It wasn’t
until the horizontal gaming wheel was invented (actually
for Roly-poly) that roulette became one of the more
popular and permanent casino games.
The
Wheel
The roulette
wheel is a very important part of the game. Its makeup
consists of four parts. The stationary "stator"
is the base and outside of the wheel. It’s 32
inches in diameter and usually made of polished wood.
The inside surface of the stator contains the track
where the dealer spins the roulette ball. The rotating
wheel or "wheel head" that contains the
roulette numbers sits inside the stator (sometimes
referred to as the "bowl") on a single ball
bearing. The centerpiece (or "spindle and turret")
rests atop the rotor and a hole in the wheel head,
holding the whole thing together. A fully assembled
roulette wheel weighs in at approximately 100 pounds
and costs around $9,000.
Inside
the rotating wheel are 38 pockets separated by metal
dividers or "frets." The pockets contain
the 38 roulette numbers and are where the roulette
ball finally comes to rest. Most players mistakenly
believe that the numbers on the wheel are randomly
distributed. This is not true. The order of the numbers
around the wheel represents an attempt to distribute
high, low, red, black, and even numbers in as balanced
a fashion as possible.
For
example, starting at the 12 o’clock position
on the wheel there is the number 0, followed by alternating
red and black numbers around the wheel. The 00 is
directly opposite the 0. Directly opposite each odd
number is the next highest even number (e.g. directly
opposite the number 1 is 2 and opposite 27 is 28).
Pairs of odd numbers alternate with pairs of even
numbers, and pairs of low numbers are followed by
pairs of high numbers.
If
you check it out, you’ll find that the first,
second and third dozens of numbers are also well distributed
around the wheel. You’ll also discover there
are no more than one red or black number in a row.
In actuality, the roulette numbers are mathematically
balanced around the wheel.
Table
Layout
The roulette
numbers on the betting layout are arranged in an organized,
numerical fashion. The numbers 1 through 36 are divided
into three columns in numerical order. At the far
left (dealer right), closest to the roulette wheel,
are the numbers 0 and 00, followed by the three rows
of 36 numbers, 12 to a row. Each number is colored
red or black, corresponding to its color on the wheel.
Directly
below the three columns is the first dozen (1 through
12), second dozen (13 through 24) and third dozen
(25 through 36). Below that and closest to the players,
is the betting area for the low (1 to 18) and high
numbers (19 to 36), even and odd, and red and black.
The numbers 0 and 00, often referred to as the "house
numbers," are green.
The
inside bets in roulette consist of making bets on
the 0, 00; 1—36; or any combinations of these
numbers within the inside of the layout. The outside
bets include the three columns; high/low; even/odd;
and red/black wagers.
Spinning
the Wheel
A roulette
dealer spins the wheel in a counterclockwise rotation
and launches the steel ball in a clockwise direction
around the outer rim of the bowl. The ball will circle
in the track several times and then lose momentum
and drop into the bowl. Brass deflectors imbedded
in the side of the rim frequently deflect the dropping
ball in a random way until it bounces into a pocket.
The ball will usually bounce in and out of several
pockets before finally coming to rest.
Players
can continue to make bets on the layout while the
roulette ball is still spinning, but once the ball’s
momentum begins to slow and the ball is ready to drop
into the bowl, the dealer will wave his/her hands
across the layout and announce "no more bets."
The dealer will then immediately place a marker (known
as a "dolly") on the layout on top of the
winning number.
Casino
practices require the dealer to pay off winning bets
and collect the losing bets in a specific sequence.
First, the dealer will remove the losing bets from
the layout. Then he’ll pay off the winning bets
on the outside of the layout by placing the winning
chips next to the original bets in like stacks. Finally,
he’ll pay the winning inside bets by placing
the winning chips in front of the player and off the
betting layout, while leaving the original bet on
the winning number intact. If you want to remove the
original bet, wait until the dealer removes the marker
before doing so.
Roulette
Chips
Special
chips called "wheel chips" are used in roulette.
They cannot be used anywhere else in the casino–only
at the roulette table where they were issued. This
also means that the roulette chips are not redeemable
at the cashier’s cage, so don’t pocket them
while you’re playing.
Usually
a roulette table will have six or seven different
color groups of 300 wheel chips each. Each seated
player will have his/her own colored chips to bet
with so there is no confusion whose bet on the layout
belongs to whom. You purchase the wheel chips by placing
currency (or regular casino chips) on the layout (but
wait till after the dealer removes the marker from
the layout to do so). Just tell the dealer you want
wheel chips and she’ll count your money (or casino
chips), get the OK from the floor supervisor, and
then slide the colored chips to you. You are now ready
to bet.
In some
gaming jurisdictions, it is permissible to make a
roulette bet with regular casino chips. Usually this
occurs if a player is standing, making only one or
a few bets, and no other players are doing the same.
Casinos would prefer however, that players use wheel
chips.
Wheel
chips are normally sold in stacks of 20 and the denomination
of each chip is established at the time you purchase
them. Suppose the table minimum is $1 and you give
the dealer a $20 bill. On a shelf on the outside of
the layout, the dealer will place a special marker
button or "lammer" on your color to signify
each of your chips are worth $1. No other person can
bet with your chips.
Before
leaving the table, you must "color up" your
wheel chips. Stack your chips into piles of 10 or
20 chips, tell the dealer that "color is coming
in," and push your stack of chips toward the
dealer. The dealer will recount them, check their
value, and pay you in regular casino chips.
Minimum/Maximum
Bets
Roulette
chips have different minimum and maximum bet restrictions
that are posted on the table. You must bet the table
minimum on each spin. On an individual or group of
inside bets, the sum of all the bets must equal the
table minimum. On the outside bets, each individual
bet made on the even money or 2 to 1 payoff bets must
equal the table minimum.
For
example, if the table minimum was $5 and you wanted
to wager on the first column and red, you must bet
at least $5 on the first column and another $5 on
red. On the inside bets, you could make five individual
$1 bets in order to meet the minimum requirement for
inside betting.
Types
of Roulette Bets
There are
11 different types of roulette bets; six are inside
bets and five are outside bets.
Inside
Bets
Straight
up bet
A bet made
on one of 38 numbers. Make the bet by placing your
chip(s) directly on the number. The wining payoff
is 35 to 1 (you win 35 chips for the one wagered).
Split
bet
A bet made
on two adjacent numbers on the layout, such as 7,
8 or 13, 16. Make the bet by placing your chip(s)
on the center of the line between two adjacent numbers
on the layout. The winning payoff is 17 to 1. Note
that with a split bet you have twice the chance of
winning compared to a straight up bet, but the payoff
is half as much.
Street
bet
A bet made
on any three numbers that run north/south on the layout,
such as 1, 2, 3 or 19, 20, 21. Make the bet by placing
your chip(s) on the line separating the row of three
numbers from the dozens betting area (essentially
at the bottom of the row of three numbers). The winning
payoff is 11 to 1.
Corner
bet
A bet made
on any four intersecting numbers on the layout, forming
a square, such as 5, 6, 8, and 9. Make the bet by
placing chip(s) directly on the center point of the
square (where they all converge). The winning payoff
is 8 to 1.
Five
Number bet
There is
only one five number bet: the numbers 0, 00, 1, 2,
and 3. Make the bet by placing your chip(s) on the
line between 0 and 00 and the numbers 1, 2 and 3.
The winning payoff is 6 to 1.
The
Line bet
A bet made
on two adjacent rows of numbers, such as 7, 8, 9 and
10, 11, 12. Make the bet by placing your chip(s) on
the outside line that separates the two rows of numbers.
The winning payoff is 6 to 1
Continued
on...
