Roullete is a classic casino game that is simple enough for beginners, but it also offers surprising depth and rewards for serious betters. Players wager on the color or type of number that a ball will land on when it spins and bounces around a numbered wheel. If the player makes a bet correctly, he or she wins.

The Rules of Roulette

Before you start betting in roulette, decide how much money you want to play with and set a budget for yourself. Each roulette table carries a placard explaining the minimum and maximum betting amounts allowed. Choose a table that fits within your budget and place your bets accordingly. When the croupier spins the wheel and the ball comes to rest, all losing bets are cleared off of the table, while winning bets are paid out according to the payout table. The process then starts over with new bets and the spinning of the wheel.

The croupier spins the wheel and throws a small ball into it while it is still spinning. Players can continue to make bets until the croupier announces, “No more bets.” Then everyone watches as the ball bounces around and settles into one of the compartments on the wheel that marks a specific number. If the bet the player made was on that number, he or she wins.

Some bets on a particular grouping of numbers offer higher odds of winning than others. For example, a straight bet on one of the even-money bets—such as red or black, odd or even, or first through 18—pays out at 1:1. This bet is easy to place and gives the player a good chance of winning, though it is not as profitable as a bet on a single number.

Other bets on a smaller grouping of numbers have lower odds but offer greater variety and the potential to win big money. The Split Bet, or cheval in French, is an example of this. With a split bet, you place your chips (usually one or two) to straddle the line between two numbers on the layout. If either number wins, the payout is 17-1.

Other types of bets include the Dozens Bet and the High or Low Bet, which are both called Passe et Manque in French. With the Dozens Bet, you wager that the winning number will be in the first, second, or third dozen on the layout; with the High or Low Bet, you wager that it will be either the first or last 12 numbers on the layout, or one of the 18 odd or even numbers. Regardless of the type of bet, if the ball lands on a 0, 00, or one of the green pockets on the American-style wheel, all outside bets lose. Unlike craps, which has a wide range of house edges, the range of roulette bets is relatively limited.