Roulette Rules: How to play one of the oldest gambling games in the world

Game Play

Roulette! The casino game par excellence, which is also known far beyond the borders of the casino player community. But although everyone knows it, most probably don't know exactly how the game actually goes, what the rules are, what the subtleties of the different bets are, what simple odds are and what strategy should be used when. Surely you can just wildly place your chips spread over the tableau. But if you look over the shoulder of a professional roulette player, you will probably be able to learn a lot that can improve the chances of winning at roulette.

Before the wheel turns

First, however, about the game process of roulette. The basic equipment is the roulette table with the numbers kettle, ball, tableau, chips and croupier. Every roulette game round starts with the players making their bets and setting their bet. To do this, you place your chips, also called chips, on the corresponding number fields on the tableau. If you don't know what a tableau looks like yet, you should definitely take a close look at it before the first game, so that every bet is right at the crucial moment. If the croupier says the famous phrase "rien ne va plus" – to New Zealander: nothing works anymore – then you can no longer place bets. However, the croupier often only says these words after he has thrown the ball into the spinning roulette wheel, so that exciting last-minute bets are possible.

After the bullet landed

Now follows the climax of each round of roulette: the moment when the ball on one of the numbers on the lucky wheel comes to a standstill. The croupier announces the winning number and pays out winnings to those players who have bet on this number or the group of numbers belonging to this number. Once everything is settled, the next round can begin.

Betting options

In dollar–based online casinos, the roulette wheel contains 37 slots with numbers from zero to 36. This gives you a variety of ways to bet your chips - and with each type of bet, the house edge and thus the chances of winning for the player is a little different. Here we present the most important types of roulette bets. Since the roulette game supposedly has its origin in France, the French names of the types of bets often stick to this day.

Easy chance

If you bet your chips on certain groups of numbers such as even, odd, low (1-18) or high (19-36), or the colors black and red, this is called a simple chance. Betting on simple odds is one of the most popular types of bets in roulette.

Number/Plein

With this simple but high-risk type of bet, you bet on only a single number. If you win, the stake is multiplied by -35 - not bad!

Split/ Cheval

If you bet on two numbers that are next to each other on the tableau, this is a split bet. If the ball lands on one of the two, the bet is multiplied by -17.

Transversal pleine

Three numbers adjacent to each other on the tableau are called lucky numbers. If you bet on zero, one and two, the bet is called "les trois premiers", i.e. "the first three".

Corner/Carré

Since the tableau is a quadrilateral, there are of course also four numbers that are placed at the corners. If you bet on these four, this type of bet is called a corner. A 7-fold bet as a win is not bad.

Dozens/Douzaines

A bet on the numbers 1-12, 13-24 or 25-36 is called a Douzaines bet, where you can win three times the bet.

Columns/Colonnes

The twelve numbers that form a row on the tableau can be turned into lucky numbers by a column bet and bring in at least three times the bet as a win.

These are only the most common of the roulette bets, but you already get a good impression that roulette is much more than just a game with a rolling ball. The many betting options ensure that it always remains interesting.

Chance

Each type of bet brings with it a different amount of chances of winning - There is always a house advantage and therefore a risk, but otherwise the game would also be boring. The trick now is to play with a strategy in such a way that you keep the chances of winning as high as possible.

On the tableau there are two main areas where you can make your bet according to the roulette rules. In the inside section you can bet on individual numbers and also in different variants of up to six numbers. The chances of winning are lower here, but the chance of making a significant big win is much higher.

In the Outside area, you can now tap on red or black, high or low and also on even or odd - the easy chances. With simple chances, the probability of winning is almost 50%, so quite high. It is not exactly 50%, because there is the zero. So the zero ensures that the casino retains a good house edge. You will probably win more often, so you have a high chance of winning, but the amounts will also be smaller. With Plein bets, on the other hand, i.e. on only a certain number, the chance of winning is 1 in 37 – not particularly high. Thus, each type of bet brings its own probability of winning.

Important rules: La Partage and En Prison

The game process of roulette is so direct and straightforward that you could get used to it smoothly, but maybe sometimes you also long for exciting detours: special rules, tricks and tricks with which you can deliberately make the game even more exciting in certain situations. And the good news is: there are such "backdoors", you just have to know them! We introduce: the La Partage rule and the En Prison Rule.

Both rules can optionally be used if the player bets on a simple chance – for example, on all even numbers. There are three possibilities for the outcome of this round: either you win, or you lose, or: the ball lands on the zero!

Have you won or lost? If no rule is played, you have lost. However, when playing with the La Partage rule, the croupier divides the bet in half, returns one to the player and keeps the other for the house. This is very advantageous for the player, because the house advantage decreases to 1.35%.

The En Prison rule is used in a similar scenario. If the player bets on a simple chance and the ball lands on zero, the bet of this round goes "to prison" – French: prison. The bet is frozen, so to speak, and is at stake again in the next round. If the player wins this time, the bet is paid out. However, if he loses, the stake is out of prison. So when playing with the En Prison rule, the original risk is only postponed by one round, so to speak.

House advantage of various roulette games

As mentioned above, there are two different versions of the game in roulette. The version most often played by us is the dollar or French roulette, in which the wheel has 37 compartments with numbers from zero to 36. In American roulette, the boiler has another number: the double zero. In the past, all roulette games had the double zero, but at some point it was abolished in dollar pa, while it was preserved in the USA. The presence of the double zero makes only small differences in the game, which, however, quite affect the house edge and the chances of winning. So before you play roulette, you should be clear about which version it is and if it is the American style, you should know about the differences.

Due to the double zero, the house edge is slightly higher in American roulette (5.3%) than in dollar-based roulette (2.7%). So the chances of winning for the player are minimally lower.

In dollarpa, it is customary for a portion of the bets to be withheld as a tip – automatically, without the player being able to decide anything here. This is not the case with the American version, which is why the advantages and disadvantages of the two variants are almost mathematically balanced. Nevertheless: a small difference remains, and therefore most players are advised to play French roulette if possible.

Live Casino Roulette

Fortunately, many online casinos offer that players can learn, practice and try out roulette for free. This gives you the opportunity to learn roulette rules in peace and not lose any real money. The disadvantage of this is that you can usually only play software-based versions of roulette for free, all by yourself, without any other players and live croupiers. This "against the computer" quickly becomes a bit boring, because the social aspect of roulette has always been an important part of the culture that has formed around this casino classic.

However, you don't have to do without it just because you play in the online casino! Because every good online casino today also offers a live casino area. Here roulette games are transmitted via live stream directly from professional live casino studios – so you play at real tables, with real wheel, real ball, and real, human live dealer, with whom you can talk via chat function.

Fortunately, the rules of roulette in the live online casino remain exactly the same. So you can practice playing with software until you master each rule, and then make a deposit or grab a bonus and sit down at the "real" roulette table with it.

The roulette rules may be confusing at first, because they have such a large selection of betting options and do not know exactly what to bet your chips on. But don't worry: once you have entered the game, you can consciously choose the chances of winning and thus consciously challenge your personal luck!