Roulette is amongst the most popular games found in casinos around the world and is synonymous with sophistication and high rolling. The word “roulette” means “little wheel” in French. The game itself is quite simple. Players first place their bets. Players may bet on a single number, a range of numbers, the colors red or black or whether the number will be odd or even. Once the bets are placed, the croupier spins the Roulette wheel in one direction and then spins a little metal ball in the opposite direction along a tilted circular track that runs the circumference of the wheel. As the ball loses its momentum, it falls unto the wheel and into one of the 37 (in the case of European/French Roulette) or 38 (in the case of American Roulette) numbered/colored slots around the wheel.

The History of Roulette
The French scientist Blaise Pascal first introduced the world to Roulette (albeit a primitive form of the game) in the 1600’s while attempting to construct a perpetual motion machine. Roulette has existed in its present form as early as 1796. The earliest description of the game can be found in the novel La Roulette, ou le Jour published in 1801 and written by the French novelist Jaques Lablee.

The Frenchmen Francois and Louis Blanc introduced the single “0” style Roulette wheel in the German resort town of Homburg. It was their intention to compete with casinos that had the more traditional wheel that contained single and double “0” house pockets. There is a legend surrounding Francois Blanc that he sold his soul to the devil in exchange for the secrets of the game of Roulette. The basis for this legend is that the sum of all of the numbers found on the Roulette wheel equals 666 (the Number of the Beast as delineated in the Book of Revelation of the New Testament).

The 1886 Hoyle gambling books depict some early forms of the American Roulette wheels. These wheels were made up of numbers 1-28, “0”, “00” and an American Eagle. The Eagle slot was a representation of American freedom and gave the casino an extra edge. The American Eagle slot did not last too long and soon disappeared leaving only numbered slots.

Throughout the 19th century, Roulette consistently gained in popularity, spreading like wildfire throughout the US and Europe. The German government outlawed gambling during the 1860’s. This caused the famous Blanca family to move to Monte Carlo where they established a gambling center for Europe’s elite. It was in Monte Carlo that the single “0” Roulette wheel developed into the premier game that spread throughout the world, with the exception of the US where the double “0” Roulette wheel maintained its popularity.

Today, the double “0” (American) Roulette wheel can be found in casinos throughout the US, Caribbean and South America and the single “0” (European/French) Roulette wheel can be found just about everywhere else.

The Roulette Table
The betting area of the Roulette table is known as the “layout” and is typically covered with felt. The layout of an American Roulette table will have a single “0” and double “0” slot and the layout of a European/French Roulette table will have just a single “0” slot.

American Roulette Layout


European/French Roulette Layout


The pockets on both the American and the European/French Roulette wheels are numbered from 1 through 36. In pocket numbers 1-10 and 19-28, the odd numbers are red and the even numbers are black. In pocket numbers 11-18 and 29-36, the odd numbers are black and the even numbers are red. The European/French Roulette wheel will have a “0” pocket colored in green and the American Roulette wheel will have a second, “00” pocket, also colored in green. The pocket numbers on the Roulette wheel follow the following clockwise numerical order:

American Roulette Wheel: 0, 28, 9, 26, 30, 11, 7, 20, 32, 17, 5, 22, 34, 15, 3, 24, 36, 13, 1, 00, 27, 10, 25, 29, 12, 8, 19, 31, 18, 6, 21, 33, 16, 4, 23, 35, 14 and 2.

European/French Roulette Wheel: 0, 32, 15, 19, 4, 21, 2, 25, 17, 34, 6, 27, 13, 36, 11, 30, 8, 23, 10, 5, 24, 16, 33, 1, 20, 14, 31, 9, 22, 18, 29, 7, 28, 12, 35, 3 and 26.

Roulette Betting
The game of Roulette affords players a variety of different betting options. When players place an “inside” bet, they are either betting on the exact number on which the ball will land or on a relatively small number of pockets within close proximity of each other on the “layout.” When players place an “outside” bet, they are betting either on a larger grouping of numbers, the number color or whether the number will be odd or even. The payouts of the different betting options are in direct relation to the probability that they will hit.

As with any other game that found at casinos, you will find that there will be minimum and maximum bets set. Typically, there will be different rules regarding minimum and maximum bets for “inside” and “outside” bets.

Even after the croupier spins the wheel and the ball, players may continue to place bets until the croupier announces “rien ne va plus” or “no more bets”.

Once the ball comes to rest in a pocket on the Roulette wheel, the croupier will put a marker on the table known as a dolly. As long as the dolly is on the table, players may not make bets, collect bets or remove bets from the layout. The croupier will then sweep all of the losing bets away and place the winnings in front of the respective players. The croupier then removes the marker and players are allowed to collect their winnings and all players are welcome to make their next bets. The croupier leaves the winning chips on their winning position for the player to either continue making the winning bet or they may simply just collect the chips and do as they wish with them.

Inside Bets
Straight –Up: A bet placed on a single number. The player’s chips are placed in the middle of a number’s square on the layout.
Split: A bet placed on two numbers bordering each other on the layout, either horizontally or vertically. The player’s chips are placed on the line making up the border between the two numbers.
Street:A bet placed on the three numbers of a horizontal line of the layout (for example; 27,26,25). The player’s chips are placed on the edge of the line of numbers.
Corner: Also known as a “square”, this is a bet placed on four numbers in a square as they appear on the layout (for example; 25, 26, 28, 29) The player’s chips are placed in the central intersection of vertical and horizontal lines at the center of the four number grouping.
Double Street: Also known as “Six Line”, this is a bet placed on to horizontal lines, or Streets. The player’s chips are placed between both streets at the end of the lines of numbers on the layout.
Trio: This bet is a bet either that the 0, 1 and 2 will hit or the 0, 2 and 3 (the second one only relevant for European/French Roulette). The player’s chips are placed at the intersection of the three numbers.
Basket (European/French Roulette): This bet is a placed on the 0, 1, 2 and 3.
Basket (American Roulette): This is a bet placed on the 0, 1 and 2; 0, 00 and 2; or 00, 2 and 3. The player’s chips are placed at the intersection of the three numbers.
Top Line: This is a bet placed only in American Roulette and is on the 0, 00, 1, 2 and 3. The player’s chips for this bet are placed either at the corner of the 0 and 1 or at the corner of the 00 and the 3.

Outside Bets
1 To 18: This is a bet placed on numbers 1 through 18.
19 To 26: This is a bet placed on numbers 19 through 26.
Red: This is a bet placed on the color red.
Black: This is a bet placed on the color black.
Even: This is a bet that the winning number will be an even number.
Odd: This is a bet that the winning number will be an odd number.
Dozen Bets: This is a bet that the winning number will be amongst one of the three twelve number blocks; 1-12, 13-24 and 25-36.
Snake Bet: The Snake Bet is not accepted at all casinos. It basically a special kind of Dozen Bet involving the numbers 1, 5, 9, 12, 14, 16, 19, 23, 27, 30, 32 and 34.

Roulette Bet Odds


Roulette Call Bets And Announced Bets
Some casinos will allow Call Bets or Announced Bets. A Call Bet is a bet called out by the player without them placing money on the table. A great many jurisdictions (the UK most notably amongst them) will not accept Call Bets as they are considered gambling on credit which is not legal.

The Roulette wheel is divided into a series of sectors, each particular sector has a specific name and special bets attached to them (see illustration). These special bets are known as the “French Bets”, with the exception of Zero Spiel which is known as the “German Bet”.

The Zero Spiel Bet
Zero Spiel, or Jeu Zéro in French, is the name for the sector of the Roulette wheel closest to zero. These numbers include the 12, 35, 3, 26, 0, 32 and 15. A Zero Spiel bet is made up of 4 chips or multiples of 4 chips and includes a chip on the 0-3 split, a chip on the 12-15 split, a chip on the 32-35 split and a chip on 26 straight up. Some Eastern European Casinos will offer the Zero Spiel bet as a 5 chip bet with a chip placed on 19 straight up in addition to those listed above.

The Voisins de Zéro Bet
Voisins de Zéro, or “Grand Voisins du Zéro”, is the name for the sector of the Roulette wheel lying between the numbers 22 and 25, including 22 and 25. A Voisins de Zéro bet is made up of 9 chips or multiples of 9 chips and includes two chips placed on the 0,2 and 3 trio, a chip on the 4-7 split, a chip on the 12-15 split, a chip on the 19-22 split, a chip on the 32-35 split and two chips on the 25-26-28-29 corner.

Orphelins
Orphelins, or “Orphans” in English, is the name of the two sectors of the Roulette wheel lying between the Voisins de Zéro sector and the Le tiers du cylinder (Tiers) and is made up of eight numbers including 17, 34, 6 and 1, 20, 14, 31,9. A Orphelins bet is made up of 5 chips or multiples of 5 chips and includes a chip on 1 straight up, a chip on the 6-9 split, a chip on the 14-17 split, a chip on the 17-20 split and a chip on the 31-34 chip.

Le tiers du cylinder (Tiers)
Le tiers du cylinder, or “Thirds of the wheel” in English, is the name of the sector of the Roulette wheel made up of the twelve numbers between 27 and 33, including 27 and 33. This bet is known as “Thirds of the wheel” because it is a bet on 1/3rd of the wheel. A Tiers bet made up of 6 chips or multiples of 6 chips and includes a chip placed on the 5-8 split, a chip placed on the 10-11 split, a chip placed on the 13-16 split, a chip placed on the 23-24 split, a chip on the 27-30 split and a chip on the 33-36 split.

…And The Neighbors
The “…And The Neighbors” bet is a fairly simple type of bet that includes a particular number and the two numbers found on either side of it on the Roulette wheel for a 5 piece bet. For example, a “10 And The Neighbors” bet would include a bet on the 8, 32, 10, 5 and the 24. These bets can often be made in combinations such as “22, 16 4 And The Neighbors” which include the numbers themselves and the two numbers found on either side of them for a total of 15 numbers (individual bets).

Final Bets
Final Bets are only found in European/French Roulette. A Final Bet number is always a one digit number and will involve all numbers with that number in the ones digit including that number. For example, a Final 3 is a bet on the numbers 3, 13, 23 and 33.

There are some casinos that will offer Split Final Bets. For example, a Final 6-9 would be a bet on the 6-9 split, the 16-19 split and the 26-29 split.

Complete Bets
A Complete Bet is a bet made on all of the possible inside bets that can be made on a particular number. Complete Bets are a high roller bet and are most commonly made as Maximum Bets. The amount of money that a player can bet on a Maximum Bet is based on a progressive betting model.

Let us take the example of a Roulette Wheel with a maximum bet of $1,000 on a 35-1 straight up bet. In this case, $2,000 can be bet on each and every 17-1 split connected to that number. The maximum amounts that can be bet on each of the inside bets associated with any given number are in proportion to the odds of the bet. Now, a gentleman at the table calls “17 to the maximum”. This is a Maximum Bet on 17. With a $1,000 maximum on a straight up bet, the gentleman would require $40,000 in order to make the bet:



This bet pays out big, at 390x”the maximum bet”. In the above example, if the gentleman were to hit his “17 To the maximum” bet then he would get a payout of $392,000 on a $40,000 bet. The position of the number on the layout will determine the size of bet that they can make with a Complete Bet. This is logical since with a number such as “7” located on the edge of the layout simply won’t have as many neighboring numbers with which to make split bets as well as a number in the center of the layout such as “17” or “11” would have.

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