How to Play Roulette

Round and round it goes … where it stops, nobody knows. Roulette is an easy game to learn. Originally invented by the French, it consists of a roulette wheel and ball. All you have to do is predict what number the ball will hit. Lacking the powers of ESP, most people just pick their favorite number or place on the roulette table for their bet.

Goal: To have the roulette ball fall into a slot that favors your bet. Ignore the large lit sign alongside the wheel; it records the most recent numbers that have landed, but the fact of the matter is that the wheel has no memory of that last 10, 20 or even 100 winning numbers, so the information on the board is irrelevant.

Play: There are multiple ways to lay your money down.

(1) Bet red or black.
(2) Bet odd or even.
(3) Bet on a specific number (0, 00, 1 through 36).
(4) Bet on two or four numbers by betting on adjacent lines or corners.
(5) Bet on sections of 12 numbers (called “dozen” bets).
(6) Bet on rows of 12 numbers (called “column” bets).

Win: The ball will stop in a specific numbered slot on the roulette wheel. If it stops in the number 5 slot, it will pay to anyone who bet: red, odd, 5, a line or corner adjacent to the 5, the first dozen, or the second column. Odds for each bet vary. The highest pay out would be to those who bet directly on the number 5.

More info: A Roulette Thing to Try offers basic table layout and suggestions for play.

Book: Roulette: Playing to Win by Brett Morton is a popular book on this game. It provides insight into the game, its theories and the possibility of winning.

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Photo credit: John Wardell