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. Simple as that. 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. Read a book, ask a dealer, study the layout, or just watch for a while and you'll quickly know how to make every bet that's offered. The chip system for Roulette is a little different from the other table games. 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. The player next to you might be betting with brown chips worth $5 each, and the player next to him might be using white wheel chips worth $25 apiece. Wheel chips allow for a practice that's unique to Roulette: the co-mingling of different players' bets. Here's an example. 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. You CAN'T exchange them anywhere else in the casino, not even at the cashier's cage. Most Roulette wheels in Las Vegas have two green-colored pockets, one displaying a zero, and a second with two zeros. For excitement purposes, it's better to divide your stake into smaller units (defined by the chip minimum) and spread chips over several numbers inside. Be sure to read the placard that lists the table minimum and chip minimum, then buy your wheel chips from the dealer. You can place your bets anywhere and everywhere on the layout, even on the top of the chips of other players, up until the time the dealer says, "No more bets." Then stand back, relax, and pray that the ball drops into the pocket with your money in it. Did you hear the one about the young woman playing Roulette who asked her boyfriend which number she should play. The boyfriend said, "Bet your age." So his girlfriend placed a chip on 23. The ball landed on 29 and the woman fainted.

Roulette Tips

The only excuse for not playing the standard European version is ignorance, because the American version produces a higher House Edge.  European roulette does not offer the 00 on the wheel, thereby taking one more bet out of the equation, and lowering the House Edge to approximately 2.6% - the lowest edge at the table.

Tip - Place more even money bets than other wagers

The even money wagers will give the player the lowest House Edge at online roulette.   These are the Red/Black, High/Low and Even/Odd bets, which have a 50/50 chance of winning. 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.