Roulette has been a favorite casino game since the 17th century, offering glamour, mystery and excitement to players around the world. While the rules are fairly simple, this classic game offers a surprising depth of strategy for serious betters. To play roulette well, it is important to understand the odds of the game.
The roulette wheel consists of a solid wooden disk slightly convex in shape with thirty-six metal compartments or pockets, painted alternately red and black and numbered 1 to 36 (on European-style wheels there is also a single green pocket). In the center is a revolving dishlike device called a “roulettewheel,” into which a small ball is spun and comes to rest in one of the compartments, indicating its number and its characteristics, such as whether it is odd or even, high or low, and so on.
Bets are placed by laying chips on the table, with the precise location of the chips indicating the type of bet being made. The bets can be placed on a single number, various groupings of numbers, or on the color red or black. The simplest bet is on a single number; this bet is called a straight. A bet on two adjacent numbers is called a split. A bet on three consecutive numbers is called a street. The betting mat is marked with French terms, although in the US English terminology and a different style of bet mat are usually used.
Before each round begins, the dealer clears the table of losing bets and places a marker on the winning number. The table is then ready for new bets. Players may place bets in any order they wish, but no more than the maximum on any individual bet. If the dealer announces ‘no more bets,’ it means that play is about to end and any additional bets would be impossible to make.
The dealer then spins the roulettewheel in one direction and rolls a small ball around the tilted circular track of the wheel, which is in the opposite direction. The ball bounces off the inner edge of the wheel and the outer edge of the table, causing it to jump unpredictably before coming to rest in one of the compartments. A modern roulette ball is made of plastic resin or Teflon and weighs less than a big old ivory ball.
The dealer then pays out winners and cashes in losers. The losers must leave their chips on the table while the winners can remove them from the table or keep them to use for another round. It is important to set a budget before you play, and to avoid using your winnings for future bets. Using your winnings to bet more than you can afford to lose can lead to big losses and bad gambling habits. The best way to win in roulette is to choose outside bets, which have higher payout rates and allow you to stay within your betting budget.