Roulette History
Roulette was first played in France back in the 17th century.
It is now one of the most popular European gambling games
and Monte Carlo in Monaco is a well known and famous
mecca for roulette gambling.
Basic Rules
Players, usually up to eight, play against the house represented
by the croupier also called the dealer, who spins the
roulette wheel and handles the wagers and payouts. In
the European roulette and French roulette version, the
wheel has 37 slots representing 36 numbers and one zero.
In the US version most roulette wheels have two zeros,
one single one double zero, and therefore 38 slots.
Each player buys-in a different colored chips so their bets don't
get mixed up. At the end of play, if you won, you exchange back the
colored chips with cash chips. These are special chips with the value
amount imprinted on them. There are several denominations in various
colors. You then take these chips to the cash desk where they will
give you actual cash money in exchange.
To play roulette, you place your bet or bets on numbers (any number
including the zero) in the table layout or on the outside, and when
everybody at the table had a chance to place their bets, the croupier
starts the spin and launches the ball. Just a few moments before the
ball is about to drop over the slots, the croupier says 'no more bets'.
From that moment no one is allowed to place - or change - their bets
until the ball drops on a slot. Only after the croupier places the
dolly on the winning number on the roulette table and clears all the
losing bets you can then start placing your new bets while the croupier
pays the winners. The winners are those bets that are on or around
the number that comes up. Also the bets on the outside of the layout
win if the winning number is represented.
The house advantage
On a single zero roulette table the house advantage is
2.7%. On a double zero roulette table it is 5.26% (7.9%
on the five-number bet, 0-00-1-2-3). The house advantage
is gained by paying the winners a chip or two (or a proportion of
it) less than what it should have been if there was no advantage.
The 'En Prison' rule
A roulette rule applied to even-money bets only, and by
some casinos, not all. When the outcome is zero, some
casinos will allow the player to either take back half
his/her bet or leave the bet (en prison = in prison)
for another roulette spin. In the second case, if the following spin
the outcome is again zero, then the whole bet is lost.
The 'La Partage' rule
The la partage roulette rule is similar to the en prison
rule, only in this case the player loses half the bet and does not
have the option of leaving the bet en prison for another spin. This
refers to the 'outside' even-money bets Red/Black, High/Low, Odd/Even
and applies when the outcome is zero. Both the La Partage and the
En Prison roulette rules essentially cut the casino edge on the 'even-money
bets' in half. So a bet on Red on a single-zero roulette table with
the la partage rule or the en prison rule has a 1.35% house edge
and one on a double-zero roulette table has a house edge of 2.63%.
The Payouts
A bet on one number only, called a straight-up bet, pays
35 to 1. (You collect 36. With no house advantage you should collect
37 (38 in the USA on double zero roulette wheels).
A two-number bet, called split bet, pays 17 to 1.
A three-number bet, called street bet, pays 11 to 1.
A four-number bet, called corner bet, pays 8 to 1.
A six-number bet, pays 5 to 1.
A bet on the outside dozen or column, pays 2 to 1.
A bet on the outside even money bets, pays 1 to 1.
Object of the game
To win at roulette the player needs to predict where the
ball will land after each spin. This is by no means easy. In fact,
luck plays an important part in this game. Some players go with the
winning numbers calling them 'hot' numbers and therefore likely to
come up more times. Others see which numbers did not come up for
some time and bet on them believing that their turn is now due. Some
players bet on many numbers to increase their chances of winning
at every spin, but this way the payout is considerably reduced. Other
methodical players use specific roulette systems or methods, money
management systems, or both.
French roulette rules
The French roulette rules are very much like the European
roulette rules. It has the same 37 numbered wheel with one zero but
a different table layout for the outside bets. See Table layout (Link
opens new window).
The player odds in French roulette are the same as in European roulette
(only one zero) and better than the odds in American roulette (two
zeros). The players loose only 50% of their even-money bets when the
outcome is zero, known as the 'La Partage' rule.
The object of the game is still the same - to predict which
number out of possible 37 the ball will land on. And of course, they
speak French. Below are the English and equivalent French terms for
the various roulette bets:
Inside bets
- One number Straight up = En plein
- Two numbers Split Bet = Cheval
- Three numbers Street Bet = Transversale
- Four numbers Corner = Carre
- Six numbers Line Bet = Sixainne
Outside bets
- Twelve numbers Column = Colonne
- Twelve numbers Dozen = Douzaine
- Red or Black = Rouge, Noir
- Even or Odd = Pair, Impair
- Low or High numbers = Manque, Passe
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