There is no doubt that Roulette carries with it a certain amount of excitement, flair if you will. In fact, the earliest gambling action in Monaco consisted of two gaming wheels in a barn. Roulette is a very easy game to learn. It's simply a guessing game with a little white ball and a big spinning wheel. The ball spins in one direction as the wheel spins in the other, until the ball lands in one of the 38 pockets on the wheel. If your money is on the right number, set of numbers, or color, you collect. What could be easier than that? There are a dozen different bets to be made on a Roulette wheel. Not bad, huh? To bet on two numbers, place your chips on the line between the two numbers you wish to bet on, such as between 1 and 2, or 1 and the single zero, or 1 and 4. This "split" bet pays off at 17-1. You can bet on three numbers at a time, paying 11-1, four numbers (8-1), five numbers (6-1) and six numbers (5-1) Those are all the inside bets. Outside bets are the wagers made on the outside of the layout. If it drops into number 23, you lose. If you put a $5 chip in the second column and the ball drops into number 17, you win $10. You can mix, match and make as many bets as you like on a single spin. In other words, you can bet 50 cents on four different numbers. You are allowed to place bets even while the wheel is spinning, up until the point when the dealer announces, "No more bets." This is the fun part. On a table that's really jamming, players twist, lunge and sometimes elbow their way past other players to get their bets down before the deadline. When you're ready to cash out, don't forget to redeem your wheel chips (for real chips) right at the table. On occasion, you'll encounter Roulette wheels that have only one zero. The house edge on a single-zero wheel is only 2.7%. The double-zero game has one bet that you should always avoid: the five-number bet on 0, 00, 1, 2, 3. It has a whopping casino edge of 7.89%. Some casinos provide reader boards that track the last 20 to 30 spins.

Roulette Tips

In an attempt to be as unbiased as possible about the game of roulette, I will, at most, point out there are several "systems" or invented strategies in existence, which claim to guarantee success at the roulette table.  And just as much as we all know that success cannot be guaranteed at any game of chance, we all know that these systems cannot be guaranteed as well.  systems have proven to be successful to some devoted roulette players who have managed to use them in a way that productively minimizes the inherent weaknesses of the system.  On the other hand, if players do the research for themselves, they will see there is a unanimous agreement between actuaries, mathematicians and legitimate gambling professionals that the structure of roulette does not allow for the implementation of a bona fide strategy such as the basic blackjack strategy.  Perhaps a jerry-rigged system is all it takes.  Therefore, on this page, player's will not find an infallibly self-proclaimed roulette strategy.  Rather, only sound tips related to playing the game with some form of structure and regularity, which in effect, could be called a strategy in itself, are offered for the player's use.  If you would like to know more about some of the most popular systems used at roulette, please see the comprehensive tips at the bottom of this page.  Our recommendation is that if you are intrigued and curious about using a system, that you do your research and learn the system inside and out.  After doing so, put the system into action at a number of practice gambling sessions.  If you are like some of the European gambles who have successfully customized a system so that it returns a small and steady profit, it may well be worth a go. With these bets, a 1.3% House Edge is obtainable, and will help a bankroll hold out longer with more positive return.  Additionally, it is only the even money bets that qualify for the "en prison" rule (see tip #3), which will bring the House Edge down even more.

Tip - Play a roulette table that offers the en prison or la partage rule

With this rule in place, which not all casinos offer, (and so therefore is a subject worth looking into when picking an online casino to play roulette at) the House Edge can be brought down to 1.35%.  It states that when a 0 (and 00 for the American version) is landed by the roulette ball, all even money bets are not lost, but are rather afforded the opportunity to stay on the board for the next bet, or be taken back by the player.  In the long run, this rule can be the deciding factor on whether a player ends in the red or not.  It may not even come into play during a round of roulette.  the fact that it can be exercised is quite reassuring, made evident by a House Edge reduced by half.  Las partage, called the Surrender rule, governs even money wagers in the same fashion, except that it returns half of the wager, thereby returning a 2.6% House Edge.

Tip - Do not place the five-number bet

The five-number bet, simply put, gives a House Edge of 7.3%.  This is the highest casino advantage of any other roulette wager, and should always be avoided.  With 5 to 1 payout odds, a player is better off taking the 8 to 1 payout on a corner bet.

As one can see, an approach to playing roulette can still be based on the numbers, as few as they might be.  The Casino advantage and odds still change from bet to bet, but do so in such a way that making a wise wager choice is easy to not second-guess oneself over.