Playing Roulette
Roulette is played on a wheel with 37 or 38 slots. The French wheels are numbered from 0 to 36 while the number 00 is added on the American wheels. This gives the players better chances of winning on the French wheels. The slots are red, black or green (0 and 00), and alternate between pairs of odd and even numbers.
The object of roulette is to bet on where the roulette ball that is thrown into to the wheel will end up. There are many different bets that can be made and for this purpose the layout is used. The layout consists of 36 numbered spaces in three columns of 12 spaces each, as well as additional spaces for other kinds of bets. Any player that wishes to enter the game simply puts chips somewhere on the layout depending on what type of bet he wants to make. The dealer spins the wheel, throws in the ball and finally shouts "No more bets". The ball will stop in one of the numbered slots and the dealer announces the winning number and the color of the slot. A player can win on the number itself, on the number being odd or even, on the number being high or low or on the color of the slot. 0 and 00 doesn't count as odd or even, as high or low or as red or black; the only way to win on these numbers is through a direct bet on them.
When the game is over the house will collect the losing bets and pay off all the winners.
Below follow the different kind of bets that can be made and how much the pay off.
Straight Bet - a single number bet, pays 35 to 1. The chips are placed on a specific number on the layout and the bet is that the ball will end up in the slot with the same number.
Split - a two number bet, pays 17 to 1. The chips are placed on the line between two numbers on the layout and the bet is that the ball will end up in a slot with one of these numbers.
Street - a three number bet, pays 11 to 1. The chips are placed on the outside line of the layout and the bet is that the ball will end up in a slot with one of the numbers in the adjacent street.
Corner - a four number bet, pays 8 to 1. Also called Square or Quarter. The chips are placed in the intersection between four numbers on the layout and the bet is that the ball will end up in a slot with one of these numbers.
Line - a five number bet, pays 6 to 1. This bet can only be made on American roulette tables. The chips are placed on the intersection of the lines that separates the 1, 2, 3-row and the 0 and 00 spaces and the bet is that the ball will end up in a slot with one of these numbers.
Line - a six number bet, pays 5 to 1. The chips are placed on the intersection of the sideline and the line between two streets and the bet is that the ball will end up in a slot with one of the numbers in the two adjacent streets.
Column, a twelve number bet, pays 2 to 1. The chips are placed in one of the blank spaces at the bottom of the layout and the bet is that the ball will end up in a slot with one of the numbers in the same column.
Low or High bet, pays 1 to1. The chips are placed inside one of the spaces on the layout marked 1 to 18 or 19 to 36 and the bet is that the ball will end up in a slot numbered either 1 to 18 or 19 to 36, of course depending on in which of the two space the chips were placed.
Odd or Even bet, pays 1 to 1. The chips are placed in one of the spaces on the layout marked Odd or Even and that bet is that the ball will end up on a slot with an even or an odd number.
Red or Black bet, pays 1 to 1. The chips are placed in one of the spaces on the layout marked Red or Black and the bet is that the ball will end up in a slot that is either red or black.
Roulette Strategy
Many attempts to create a winning roulette system have been made over the years, but none has been truly successful. Betting systems like Martingale and D'Alembert involves risking large sums of money and even on a good night the profit will be relatively small. Follow the simple roulette strategy.
The only way to beat the casino at roulette is to discover a biased wheel. In these cases the ball will end up in a certain part of the wheel more often and if a player notices this before the casino does he can make some money. However casinos are well aware of this risk and test their roulette wheels regularly.
You can check out the history of Roulette for more details on roulette.