Roulette Tutorial

Roulette History

Roulette, which means “Little Wheel” in French, is considered one of the oldest casino games in history, dating all the way back to the wheel-based games in China and Ancient Rome. The roulette wheel we know today was invented in France by Blaise Pascal in the 17th century. Pascal was a French mathematician who wanted to create a gambling game that could spin, and the winner would be decided according to the landing spot of a small object (in this case, the roulette ball). The game spread across Europe, and it flourished specifically in Germany for a while. The true success of the game was in Monaco, as roulette was the foundation of the gambling empire in the city of Monte Carlo.

Modern roulette owes its origins to Louis and François Blanc in 1842. They invented the French roulette wheel that contains 37 numbers, including a zero. Zero was introduced to increase the advantage of the casino so the game could be profitable to the casinos offering it. The brothers spread the game throughout Germany until the country banned gambling altogether. It was at this point that Louis and François were introduced to King Charles.

King Charles desperately needed to alleviate the financial woes dominating his kingdom. As a result, he had the Blanc brothers create a casino for his people, and thus, the roulette table became a great source of income for the kingdom. Roulette soon gained continuous popularity and became the main symbol of Monte Carlo’s casino culture.

Years later, the game made its way across the Atlantic Ocean, spreading to the United States, where it proved to be very popular as well, especially during the Gold Rush. With a booming economy, the rich were drawn to roulette and became what we call high rollers. The game’s popularity increased tremendously, and as a result, casinos decided to increase their edge and advantage once more with the introduction of the double zero slots. This is the only American contribution to the history of roulette history.

Today, the French version of roulette, the single “0″, can be found in most European casinos, and the American version of roulette, the double “00″, can be found in places such as Las Vegas and Atlantic City. At present, Roulette is more popular in Europe, mainly because of the better odds it predicts based on the one “0″ vs. double “00″ difference. Of course, in the online gambling world, players can enjoy either one of these versions, regardless of their location. Online casinos have even created several unique roulette versions for players.

How to Play Roulette

The roulette game, like any other casino table game, starts with players placing their wagers. Since all the wagers will be put on the same wagering area, with the probability of more than one player placing the same wager, players will have to purchase different sets of chips. These chips have different colors so each player’s chips can be easily identified. These special roulette chips can often be purchased and cashed in at the roulette table. Alternatively, the chips can be cashed in at the cashier once exchanged for the money chips at the roulette table.

After players get their colored chips, they begin the game by placing wagers. Players will place wagers by putting the desired number of chips on the numbers or the different bets that the game offers. The wagering area, clearly indicated, includes all the different numbers and bets the game has. While placing these chips, the dealer, or croupier, will throw the roulette ball on the roulette wheel in the opposite direction of the spinning wheel.

While the ball is spinning, players can change their wagers, retract them or place new ones. Once the ball starts to slow down, the croupier will loudly announce that there are “No More Bets, Please.” At this point, all the wagers on the roulette table’s wagering area are final, and players are not permitted to change, retract or place any new bets.

After the ball lands on a specific number, that will be declared as the winning number. The croupier will then place a small glass object called a dolly on the winning number. He will then start to pay the winning players while taking the losing bets. Of course, the croupier will pay players in their color so they can use these chips to place more table bets. While the dealer is paying the winning bets and taking in the losing bets, players are not permitted to place new wagers or touch their chips. After all, is done the dealer will signal players that they can start placing wagers again. Once they have begun placing wagers again, the same procedure is repeated spin after spin.

The various available bets pay differently according to the odds of each bet. The bets that have a higher chance and better odds will pay less than the bets that have lesser odds. This is why the highest payout is paid by the bet that has the worst odds, which is the straight number bet because players have a 1/37 or a 1/38 chance of winning. That being said, it clearly pays a lot for players to know the different bets and their payouts before they engage in a roulette game.

Roulette Rules

Roulette is pretty simple, but the game does come with a set of rules and etiquette that players are required to know before they start placing chips at the table. Here are some of these important rules:

• Players are not permitted to move any of their chips or even touch them once the croupier says no more bets.
• Once the dealer places the dolly on the winning number, players should not move or touch the chips before he removes it to signal a new round.
• Players cannot use a camera or cell phones at the table as all electronics are prohibited.
• Players can only put cigarettes, drinks, money, or chips on the roulette table.
• Exchanging chips or cash can only be done between roulette spins and not during the gameplay.
• Players who want to place called bets will say it, and if the dealer is not busy, he will accept them. These bets are only official if the croupier repeats them in a loud voice.
• The seats at the table are only for players who have bets on the table. This will happen even if there is only 1 player seated at the roulette table. Players who want to sit at the table have to place bets.
• Players can only start to place new bets once the dealer clears all of the losing wagers and has paid all of the winning ones from the previous spin. Players will then be given time to place wagers, and then the dealer will start to spin the next round.

Naturally, most of these rules do not exist in the online gambling world. At online casinos, roulette is a single-player game where players will have the roulette table to themselves. There are no croupiers, no other players, and no colored chips. Playing online roulette is much easier and simpler than land-based roulette.

You can find plenty of roulette versions at most online casinos, including the two most commonly played ones, American Roulette and French Roulette. Some casinos may even offer innovative versions of roulette created just for the online gambling world. For example, the mini roulette game is an optional game containing only half of the numbers that are found on a normal wheel of roulette. There are also multi-wheel roulette versions that enable players to place wagers on up to 8 roulette wheels simultaneously as each wheel spins separately. Some of these innovative games have their own rules and payouts, so we advise you to check the rules and payout tables of each game before playing. These rules can be viewed by clicking on “Rules” or “View Rules” on the actual roulette game. Likewise, remember these games may also have their own house edge and payouts.

The odds of the roulette wheel depend on what version of the game is being played. Different versions have different setups and thus have different odds and a different house edge.

The House edge is the advantage the casino has over the players and is the percentage of chips that are taken from the player winnings. For French roulette, the single zero roulette version, the house advantage or edge is 2.7 percent. As for American roulette, the double zero version stands at 5.26 percent and is equal to 7.9 percent on the 5-number bet (0-00-1-2-3).

A lot of players prefer to play French roulette because it has a lower house edge. French roulette has better odds than American roulette primarily because it has one zero, which means that for a straight number bet, players have a 1/37 chance of winning. American roulette has 38 number slots, so for a straight number bet, the chance is 1/38 instead of 1/37.

This shows the odds are primarily affected by the version of roulette being played, but secondary to that can also be affected by the bet itself. As noted earlier, different bets have different odds.

• Reds/Blacks: This bet is placed on either Red or Black or both and since the table contains 18 blacks and 18 reds plus 1 or 2 green spots, the odds are almost 50:50. As a result the bet pays even money (1:1).
• Even/Odd: Similar to the last bet, the odds are 50:50 and it pays even money.
• Straight number bet: Players will place a wager on a specific number and will be paid 35 to 1 since players have a 1/37 or 1/38 chance of winning this bet.
• Three number bet, also called a street bet, pays eleven to one.
• The 6 number bet pays five to one.
• The 2 number bet pays seventeen to one.
• A column or a dozen bet pays two to one.

There are certain rules that can affect these odds. These rules are not implemented in every casino. Some of these rules include:

The En Prison Rule (In Prison):

This rule is applied to the bets that pay even money, such as odds/evens, blacks/reds, and 1st half/2nd half. If players place any of these bets and the ball lands on the zero, the player will be able to recoup half of his bet or keep it all for the next spin. If during the next sping the ball lands on zero once again, the entire bet will be lost.

The La Partage Rule:

This rule is quite similar to the previous rule but players will lose half the bet. The second option, which is to keep the bets for a second spin, is not available.

These two rules cut down the edge of the house to half on even money bets because they give players a second chance.

Roulette Strategy

Roulette is a random game and therefore players cannot predict the outcome of the spins. However, there are certain betting strategies that can increase the odds. While these strategies could increase the odds, they can never guarantee a win because the outcome of the wheel is 100 percent random. Below we discuss 3 strategies:

1. The Martingale Betting System is basically a double or nothing strategy. In this strategy, players will double up their bets if and when they lose so they can make up for the money they have lost. Naturally, it is not a very successful strategy because players can hit the house limit or they can run out of cash before they are able to make up for their losses.

2. The Andre Martinez Betting System depends on the odds and possibilities. It states that players should bet on the same number 35 times since there is a 1/35 probability of winning. This is also not a very successful strategy because there is less than a 61 percent chance of winning if you bet on the same number for 35 consecutive spins. Players can run out of money well before winning.

3. The third strategy states that in a game of roulette, you do not have to bet on only black or red, or just one specific number. There are a lot of other options such as the 1st dozen bets, 2nd dozen bets, and 3rd dozen bets. In this strategy, instead of choosing numbers without any calculations, it will use a special strategy and system in order to choose a group of roulette numbers that you will place wagers on. For the purpose of this betting system, the first twelve numbers will be named A, the second twelve will be B while the third twelve will be C. As for the 0 or the 00, they will be named 0.

In order to build the strategy, you should play at an online casino in free play mode, so you do not waste your bankroll while learning the strategy. Get a paper and spin the wheel; if the ball lands on the first 12, write down A, the second 12, write down B and the 3rd twelve, write down C. You will do this test in sets of 5. Keep spinning until there is a set of 5 that is missing one of the letters. So if you record B, C, C, B, and B, you will stop because A did not show up — you should bet for real money on B and C (the 2nd twelve and 3rd twelve). Keep betting on these numbers and over the long haul you should rack up the wins. The procedure of betting depends on your budget — if you have a low budget then place small bets and if you have a big budget, place big bets.