The game of roulette is quite simple once you get your head around it. It is played with up to 8 players, excluding the dealer. All the players play against the dealer - called the croupier.
You get two main typed of roulette - American and European. European roulette has 37 slots on the wheel which number from 0 - 36. American roulette has 38 slots, with the same number sequence but with a 00 added.
The game starts once all the players have placed their bets. These bets can either be placed in the centre of the table on the numbers or on the outside of the table. This will be explained later in more detail. Once all the bets are placed, the croupier will spin the wheel. Depending on what number the ball lands on, the players will be paid out accordingly for a win - depending on where the ball has landed.
There is no way that a player can accurately predict where the ball will land. In fact, a lot of roulette depends on pure luck. It depends on how you bet that increases your odds. The higher the odds, the more you win, but it is also more unlikely that your bet will pay off.
How the Payouts Work
- Straight-up bet: This is when you bet on one single number and you can win 35:1
- Two-number bet: This is a bet across two numbers and you can win 17:1
- Three-number bet: This is a bet across three numbers - also called a street bet - you can win 11:1
- Four-number bet: This is a bet across four numbers - also called a corner bet - you can win 8:1
- Six-number bet: This is a bet across six numbers and you can win 5:1
- Outside dozen/column bets: You can win 2:1 on this bet
- Outside even money bets: These include Red/Black, Odd/Even and High/Low. This pays 2:1
The House Edge
In European roulette, the house edge sits at 2.7% and 5.26% in American roulette. This percentage increase is due to the extra zero slot. Depending on what added rules are put in place by the online casino, the house edge will be adjusted accordingly. It is important that you research the rules and odds properly before signing up for an online casino.
More Complex Rules
En Prison: This only applies to even money bets when the ball lands on zero. In this case, some online casinos allow players to take back half their bets or to leave the bets in place for the next spin. However, if the next spin is also zero then the player loses.
La Partage: This also applies to the outside even money bets but in this case the player will just lose half the bet without the option of a re-spin.
