There is no doubt that Roulette carries with it a certain amount of excitement, flair if you will. This image was created by that "Mother of all super spies," James Bond, who, with a beautiful woman nearby, preferred to play this fast-paced game, when not beating the bad guys at Baccarat. Although a game favored by Europeans, Roulette has managed to gather a strong following in North America, most likely for its simplicity and the chance to win big money. Roulette means "little wheel" in French. They fall under one of two categories: "inside" bets and "outside" bets. Inside bets are made on the individual numbers, one through 36, and the zeros. Betting on a single number is called a "straight-up" wager. 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. Those are all the inside bets. Outside bets are the wagers made on the outside of the layout. These are the bets on red-black, odd-even, and high-low. If you place your chips in the even box and the ball drops into the number 24, you win. 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. You can buy in and play with standard casino chips, but each table has its own set of special "wheel chips." Wheel chips, which come in several different colors, are used so that the dealer can distinguish among all the different players' bets on the layout. When you go to exchange your cash, or casino chips, for wheel chips, inform the dealer of the denomination (within the stated betting limits) that you want your chips to be. Say you want each chip to be worth $1. If you give the dealer a $20 bill, he'll give you back 20 wheel chips worth $1 each. Here's an example. On occasion, you'll encounter Roulette wheels that have only one zero. It has a whopping casino edge of 7.89%. Some casinos provide reader boards that track the last 20 to 30 spins. While interesting to observe and look for patterns, they don't provide much information of practical use.

Roulette Tips

Before searching for the appropriate casino to play online roulette, which is an important factor before playing the game, the roulette player needs to be soundly informed about the rules of the game, and understand each and every bet or action that can potentially be made (See the 'Roulette Rules' page)  Beginning with the different types of bets one will see there is a vast assortment of payout odds and House Edge.

In order of payout odds, the roulette bets are as follows:

• The even money bets (red/black, high/low, and even/odd) payout 1:1
   

• The dozens and column bet pays out 2:1
   

• The five-number bet pays out 5:1
   

• The corner bet pays out 8:1
   

• The street bet pays out 11:1
   

• The split bet pays out 17:1
   

• The straight-up bet pays out 35:1.

For any player who is seeking to place some kind of structure on his or her bankroll, the even money bets, dozens, and column bets are the safest choices.  The even money bets produce the lowest House Edge of all the roulette wagers - in conjunction with the en prison rule the House Edge is lowered even more.  As is the case at any casino game, it is important to place the majority of one's wagers with the bets offering the lowest Casino Advantage.  This isn't to say that a player should cease from some of the more chancy wagers like the street, split or straight-up.  These are very exciting bets to make, and can and do produce some large winners at the wheel.  it is to say that these bets should not be made as often as the even money bets if the player is planning to gamble at online roulette for an indefinite length of time.  Furthermore, if one of these bets does happen to win, this might be a very good time to walk away, depending on your bankroll status. Keep in mind that all the bets on the roulette table naturally return a 5.25% Casino Advantage (except the five-number bet), although there are some situations when this advantage can be lowered to 2.6% and 1.3%.  With this in mind, here are the best non-system related tips that will help a player hold out at the roulette table:

Tip - Play the European version of Roulette

Most online casinos will offer both the American and European versions of roulette.