Roulette is one of the most famous casino games, it’s available almost everywhere where there are casinos and it’s a game that’s easy enough for new players to learn but with plenty of betting options that will appeal to more experienced players. It’s a fast-paced game that can be very exciting but it can also be frustrating. If you’re new to the game, or just want to improve your chances of winning, here are a few tips that will help.
Unlike other casino games where the odds are fixed, the probabilities of the different types of bets in roulette are not, so you can actually beat the house edge by using a good system. Many systems have been developed over the years, some of which are simple and others very complicated. However, they all have the same basic principles. The best way to understand the odds of a particular type of bet is to look at the probability distribution graphs for each type of bet. You can find these graphs on the Roulette Probability page.
The Roulette wheel is a solid wooden disk slightly convex in shape. Around its rim are metal partitions called separators or frets, and these separate 37 compartments or pockets on the Roulette table. The numbers are alternately coloured red and black, and there is a single green pocket marked 0 on European-style wheels and two green pockets labeled 00 on American roulette wheels.
Before a spin of the wheel, players place their chips on the betting mat in front of them, choosing the number or groups of numbers they’d like to bet on. Bets on individual numbers are known as inside bets and bets on groups of numbers based on their position are called outside bets.
The payouts for inside bets vary according to their size and their position on the Roulette table. For example, a straight up bet on number 6 costs 35 chips and pays out 392 chips. The remaining chips remain on the table, unless they’re requested to be removed, for the next spin.
There are several variations of the Roulette game, but most online casinos offer the European version with a lower house edge than the double-zero American Roulette. Some of them also offer a version with the La partage rule, which means that an even-odds bet that loses to a zero doesn’t automatically lose but is instead left on the table for the next round. This can dramatically improve your odds of winning.