Roulette Rules

Out of all of the most popular casino games, none is easier to master than roulette. In just a few short minutes, you can learn everything you need to know to walk right into a casino and start playing this game. Before we actually teach you how to play roulette, let's take a look at the roulette wheel and the table on which it sits.

The Setup

When you are playing roulette, you have only a limited amount of interaction with the dealer. Instead, you will be placing your bets with, and receiving feedback from, the roulette table and it's wheel. Because of this, it is absolutely vital to understand how these two pieces of equipment work.

Roulette Wheels

Roulette largely focuses around the roulette wheel. Depending on whether you are playing with an American or European roulette wheel, it will have either thirty-seven or thirty-eight total pockets. Thirty six of these are simply numbered 1-36 and alternate in color (red and black). In addition you will either have one or two green pockets labeled '0' and '00'.

This wheel sits on it's side in a bowl on the roulette table and spins counterclockwise. Around the rim of the bowl, there is a steeply sloped track in which a small metal ball can roll clockwise. When the ball loses enough speed, it tumbles into the spinning wheel below.

After a small amount of bouncing, the ball will come to rest in one of the numbered, colored pockets. Because any imperfection could lead to an un-fair roulette wheel, great care is taken when building and installing these items.

Roulette Tables

The roulette wheel only play's a small part in the game of roulette. If you want to really play roulette, you have to understand what role the table plays in the equation.

Roulette tables are responsible for more than just supporting the wheel (and your drink). When you approach a hot roulette table for the first time, you'll see that the wheel only accounts for a small amount of the table's surface. The rest of the table is bustling as players win and lose mountains of chips.

This active part of the table has a seemingly complicated pattern printed on it, and is known as the "layout". Each of the markings printed on the layout designates a specific roulette bet. Players can make wagers by placing their chips on the specific markings.

Roulette Chips

Before you can start playing, you'll need to exchange your regular casino chips for special roulette chips. These roulette chips work differently than normal casino chips, but they are an important part of the game. All of your roulette chips will be one color, and nobody else at the same table will be playing with the same colored chips.

Since all of your chips are one color, you won't have differently valued chips to play with. When the dealer takes your casino chips, they will assign an appropriate value to your roulette chips based on how much money you are requesting.

By assigning each player a specific color, it is easy for the dealer to look at the layout and know who made each wager. Quite simply this prevents mistakes and disputes. Since these chips are only useful at the table where you received them, you should make sure to redeem them for normal casino chips before you leave the table.

How To Play Roulette

After approaching a roulette table, it's important that you don't jump in and start playing at the wrong time. If a round just wrapped up, and there are still bets on the layout, wait until the dealer has paid all of the winnings and cleared all of the losses.

Once the new round is ready to start, you can make your first wager(s). There are a few different kinds of bets, but they're are all easy to understand. You can bet on red/black, even/odd, any specific numbers, and much more. When putting your chips on the layout, keep them stacked so they fit within the allowed space.

After the dealer starts to spin the ball you only have a few moments to finalize your betting. As the ball begins to slow down, the dealer will announce "No more bets!", at which point you must stop the betting for the round. If you ignore this command, laying late bets is known as past posting and it is considered cheating. In many places, this is also illegal.

Once the ball comes to rest in one of the pockets, the dealer will designate that winning pocket with a marker on the layout. Sit tight though, the dealer will start by clearing all of the losing bets from the table. Once this has been done, they will payout the winning outside bets, and finally the inside bets will be paid out.

You're Almost Ready

This is almost all of the information you need to start playing roulette. Check out our section about roulette bets to learn one or two good "starter bets". If you want to learn more, here are some related topics: