Roulette is one of the most popular casino games, and for good reason. It offers glamour, mystery and excitement to gamblers, as well as a surprising depth of strategy for those who are serious about winning. Its simplicity and easy-to-learn rules are also part of its appeal, making it a game that is perfect for all players, regardless of experience or bankroll.
To win at roulette, you need to correctly guess where the ball will land on the wheel when the dealer spins it. There are various types of bets you can make, including the number or type of number, the color (red or black) and whether the number is odd or even, high or low (1-18 or 19-36).
The most common variation on this game is European roulette, which features a single zero pocket, which drastically lowers the house edge to a coveted 2.7%. This is the version that most online casinos offer, and it’s our recommended starting point for newbies.
A solid wooden disk slightly convex in shape, the roulette wheel is surrounded by metal compartments called frets or canoes by croupiers, and thirty-six of them are numbered nonconsecutively from 1 to 36. The rest of the wheel is painted alternately red and black, with a green compartment carrying the sign 0 on American wheels.
There are two betting systems that can help you increase your chances of winning in roulette: Martingale and the Labouchere. Both require you to place bets of equal amounts, but the latter requires that you double your stake each time you lose. It is therefore a riskier approach, but it may prove lucrative if you follow the right betting pattern.
Outside bets are found on the perimeter of the roulette table and pay out at a higher percentage than inside bets, but the probability of winning is low. These bets include the column, a bet on any of the three ’12’ sections, and a straight-up bet on a specific number. A winning ’12’ bet pays out at 2 to 1, while a winning column bet pays out at 6 to 1. Straight-up bets on individual numbers cost more chips, but they have the highest payout of all bets in the game.