Roulette is a classic casino game that has been offering glamour, mystery and excitement to casino-goers since the 17th century. It is a simple enough game to be enjoyed by beginners, but it has enough depth for serious betters and can offer lucrative payouts. The rules are relatively straightforward and easy to understand, but it takes skill and a good strategy to win.
The word ‘roulette’ comes from the French for little wheel, and the game itself is played on a small, circular table with numbers 1 through 36, plus one or two zeros. Players place bets by laying chips on a betting mat, with the precise location of the chip indicating the bet being made. Bets on six or fewer numbers are known as Inside bets and those on 12 or more are called Outside bets. Choosing the right bets will improve your chances of winning, but there are no guarantees.
To win at roulette you have to correctly guess the number or type of number the ball will land on when the dealer spins the wheel. The wheel consists of a solid, slightly convex disk divided by a series of metal separators or frets. The compartments on the wheel are painted alternately red and black and numbered nonconsecutively from 1 to 36, with an additional green division numbered 0 on European wheels and two extra green ones marked 00 on American tables.
When you play roulette online, the only real difference between an offline and an online version is the fact that the computer software controls the action. The rest of the game is exactly the same, with the croupier and the roulette table looking identical to those in a traditional casino.
There are a variety of ways to make bets on roulette, with each type having its own specific advantages and disadvantages. Outside bets are broader wagers covering an entire category of numbers and are ideal for beginners, while inside bets require more concentration and a higher bankroll, but pay out a much greater amount of money when won.
A single number bet costs a minimum of 40 chips and pays out a maximum of 392 chips. A split bet picks two adjacent numbers, while a corner bet covers four numbers. A column bet places your chips on the line that connects these numbers, and a dozen bet puts your chips on the first, second or third row of the roulette table. Each bet has its own odds of winning, but the house edge on these bets is higher than that of any other bet.
There are a great many (possibly millions) of systems for playing and supposedly winning at roulette. Most of these are based on the belief that you can beat the maths of the game by searching out rigged wheels or using other methods to tilt the odds in your favor. In reality, the only way to beat the house edge is to place bets on outside bets and use strategies that minimize the number of times you lose.
