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 casino centre for
playing roulette.
The Basics
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 USA most roulette wheels have two
zeros and therefore 38 slots.
Each player buys-in a different
coloured chips so their bets don't
get mixed up. At the end of play, if you
won, you exchange back the coloured chips
with cash chips. These are
special chips with the value amount
imprinted on them. There are several
denominations in various colours. 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.
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