Roulette Basics You Should Know

- The roulette table consists of a roulette wheel, and an area where you can place your bets. On the table, there is a list of numbers, and possible groups of numbers that can be bet on.

- Players play against the house. There are usually only up to eight players.

- The house is represented by the dealer, usually referred to as the croupier in roulette. The croupier spins the roulette wheel and also handles all bets, including payouts.

The Roulette Wheel

The wheel will have either 37 (European) or 38 (USA) slots. European roulette wheels have one zero, and American roulette has two zeros. Apart from zero, or double zero, the numbers are either on a red or a black background. There is a small ball on the roulette wheel that bounces around after the wheel has been spun. The winning number is the one that the ball lands on.

Aim of the Game

The aim of the game is to bet on the winning number, color, or group of numbers which the ball will land on when the roulette wheel stops spinning. Obviously, the odds are higher for picking a single winning number than for the other possibilities as described below.

Inside Bets

These are the numbers that are displayed on the inside of the roulette table. This includes the numbers from 1 - 36. Bets can be placed on each number. Zero and double zero are also included in the inside bets, even though it may look like it is on the outside of the basic block of numbers on the table.

The most basic bet is to predict the number which the ball will land on after each spin in order to win straight up.

There are, however, various other bets that will also allow you to win, such as a split bet where two adjacent numbers are bet on at the same time. In order to do this, you place your bet on the line between the two numbers. It is also possible to place a three (street bet), four (corner/square bet), or a six number bet.

Outside Bets

Around the block of 36 numbers, there are other bet possibilities displayed. As a group, these are called roulette outside bets.

At the end of all the numbers, there are three boxes with the odds "2 to 1" written on them. In these three spaces, you can place a bet covering the whole column of numbers above it.

You can bet on groups of twelve numbers (roulette dozens), such as 1 - 12 (the 1st 12), 13 - 24 (the 2nd 12), 25 - 36 (the 3rd 12).

Similarly, you can place your bets on either the first half (1 - 18), or the second half (19 - 36) of the numbers. The first half of numbers called a low roulette bet, and the second half is called a high roulette bet.

The other two options are choosing to bet on either an odd or an even number coming up, or the ball landing on either a red or a black number. These are easy bets to make as you have a 50% chance of winning. It is important to note that the red and black colors do not correspond with odd and even numbers.