Roulette 101 – Understanding the basics

There aren’t many casino games as well-known and instantly recognisable as Roulette. It’s been a staple of casinos for centuries now, having started all the way back in 18th-century France.

Now, there are more varieties of Roulette for players to choose from than ever before, ranging from classic European and American Roulette to multi-wheel and live Roulette formats. From land-based casino venues to online platforms, let’s take a look at the basics of Roulette that every player needs to understand.

The Roulette wheel

The main component of a game of Roulette is its wheel – that’s what gives the game its name in the first place.

The design of the wheel is largely the same across different varieties of the game, with the main distinction being American Roulette wheels. The most common Roulette wheel design features 37 pockets, with 36 alternating red and black pockets, as well as the green zero.

American Roulette adds an extra pocket to the wheel with the double zero, which slightly alters the house edge and the general odds of different wagers, as there is a higher chance of the ball landing in a zero pocket.

The table layout

Aside from the wheel, the other part of the Roulette setup is the table layout. This sets out the various wagers available for players to choose from, which are split between inside and outside bets.

Inside bets are found in the three central columns, which list each of the numbers on the wheel. Players place wagers on either single numbers (known as a straight bet) or on small groups of adjoining numbers (such as a corner or line bet).

These carry lower odds of landing, as they cover a smaller fraction of the wheel, but that means they come with higher potential payouts.

Outside bets are found around the rest of the table layout surrounding the central columns. There are options like red/black or odd/even, as well as dozens of individual columns. These cover a wider area of the wheel, carrying lower potential payouts but higher odds.

In French Roulette games the table layout will generally feature French instead of English to mark certain outside bets and other labels.

How a game of Roulette works

The rules of Roulette are quite straightforward, with only a couple of phases to the game. Before play starts, players will place their wagers by setting chips down on the table layout to indicate their bet. In online games, this is done through the user interface instead.

Once the wagering period is over, the dealer will spin the Roulette wheel, with no new wagers allowed past this point. When the wheel is spinning, the dealer rolls a ball around its rim in the opposite direction.

Then, it is just a matter of waiting for the ball to lose its momentum and land in one of the Roulette wheel’s pockets, determining the outcome of the game.

When the ball lands, the dealer will announce the result, then resolve all wagers and make any payouts.

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Players who understand the basics of Roulette can join either an online or land-based Roulette table, as most varieties of the game follow the same general rules and flow.