The amount you stand to win on any roulette bet necessarily depends on the spin of the wheel. The ball will land where it lands, and there’s very little you can do to influence that outcome. However, it is possible to play the odds to your advantage, and to optimise your roulette play with better knowledge of how the game works and your available betting options.
So what is the layout of the roulette wheel numbers, the set up of the numbers and the payouts by bet, and how can you play these to your maximum advantage for the best results?
While regular roulette tables cap maximum bets at €500 or €700, high roller games can accept wagers as high as €75,000. How many numbers are there in a roulette wheel? The European and French Roulette wheels have 37 numbers – from 1 to 36 plus 0 – while American also features the 00 pockets taking the total to 38. What do the 0 and 00. The truth is that there is no set number of players a roulette table should have. That said, there is some information on how this important metric is established. For instance, in a physical casino, the people who can play will often be limited to the number of seats at that particular roulette table. The numbers are not necessarily repeated in a row, as this is extremely unlikely to happen. Whether a number is hot depends solely on how many times it was called for a specific number of spins. Thus, if a number gets called twenty or more times for say 300 spins, it is deemed especially hot. If it comes out less than 15 times it is considered.
There are two main different types of roulette, which will influence the appearance and layout of the roulette wheel. In European roulette, there are 37 pockets on the wheel, each with its own number or colour. These are divided in 18 blacks and 18 reds, with an additional green zero pocket. In American roulette, there is an additional pocket, which appears on the wheel as a second double-0 green.
How Many Numbers are there on a Roulette Wheel? On a roulette wheel, though the numbers are arranged from 0 to 36, the order might be different. The range starts from 1 to 10, followed by 19 to 28. While the odd numbers are in red, even numbers are in black. The more popular version of the roulette wheel features 37 pockets, including the numbers from 1-36, and only a single green zero pocket. Due to that, the house edge is significantly lower than that of the American version – European roulette has an average casino advantage of only 2.7%.
Clockwise from zero, a European roulette wheel runs 0-32-15-19-4-21-2-25-17-34-6-27-13-36-11-30-8-23-10-5-24-16-33-1-20-14-31-9-22-18-29-7-28-12-35-3-26.
The American roulette wheel is distributed differently and runs 0-28-9-26-30-11-7-20-32-17-5-22-34-15-3-24-36-13-1-00-27-10-25-29-12-8-19-31-18-6-21-33-16-4-23-35-14-2.
Players choose a single number to bet against, and will be paid out if the ball lands on that number, in the most basic option available in the game. But in reality, there are many different bet types and payout structures available, each with their own rates of return.
There are two different classifications of roulette bets available to you – inside bets and outside bets. These correspond to the roulette table layout, and bets are executed by placing your chips on the relevant space on the layout.
Inside bets are so called because they correspond to the central, or inside area of the table layout. The most obvious of these is the straight, or single, which is the single number bet we’ve already touched on. This already posts returns of 35-1, though the true odds are 36-1, accounted for by the additional zero on the wheel. In American roulette, payout is still 35-1, though the true odds are 37-1, so savvy players often prefer European roulette to American roulette for the slimmer house edge.
Split: a bet on two adjacent numbers on the layout, pays 17-1
Street: a bet on three consecutive numbers, pays 11-1
Square/Corner: a bet on four numbers, pays 8-1
Six Line: a bet on six numbers from any two rows, pays 5-1
Trio: a bet on three numbers including the zero, pays 11-1
First Four: a bet on the first four numbers from zero, pays 6-1
Outside bets are those that are located around the perimeter of the layout. The available outside bets are as follows:
Low or High: a bet that the number falls with the lower, or higher range, pays evens
Red or Black: a bet on whether the winning number is red or black, pays evens
Odd or Even: a bet on whether the winning number is odd or even, pays evens
Dozen: a bet on any of the three dozens, pays 2-1
Column: a bet on any of the three layout columns, pays 2-1
Snake: a special bet on 1, 5, 9, 12, 14, 16, 19, 23, 27, 30, 32, and 34, which pays 2-1 like a column bet
There’s no right or wrong answer here, and the bets you’ll play will depend on your roulette strategy. It is worth weighing up the house edge on each of the options to ensure you are playing the optimal bet, but ultimately, this comes down to experience.
So this is best advice we can give to get started if you want to play online roulette, and to find your feet with the roulette numbers, layouts and betting patterns. Over time, this will help you become more comfortable with how to play your optimal game, and with a bit of luck, will see you on your way to roulette winnings.
Considered to be around ever since the 18th century, roulette is one of the most longevous and popular casino games. Many historians consider Blaise Pascal as the father of the roulette mechanism, while the casino games itself appeared by mixing the wheel with the Italian game of Biribi. Even though it’s around for over 200 years, the question of How to play roulette? will always pop-up since new players want to learn the rules and enjoy the thrills offered by this casino game. Therefore, we invite you to explore a thorough guide to roulette covering the bets available, game mechanics, roulette types, and answers to the most frequent questions.
Before jumping into types of bets, differences between various roulette versions, and more intricate matters, let’s start with the basics of how to play roulette at the casino. The action to start a roulette game is quite simple. You have to place chips on various numbers or bet types before the dealer starts to spin the ball on the roulette table.
The outside bets are the simplest types of wagers a player can use in a roulette game. That’s what makes them ideal for beginners and we’re starting this casino roulette guide with them.
We’ve seen how you can place bets on larger groups of numbers on the roulette wheel through outside bets. On the other hand, inside bets offer a closer look at how to play roulette numbers in smaller clusters and even single-number bets.
No guide on how to play roulette for beginners is complete without exploring the various types of roulette tables as well. So, let’s start with European Roulette’s particularities and how it compares to the American one.
The main difference between European and American roulette comes from the absence of the “00” pocket on the wheel, present in the latter. While playing with a total of 37 numbers instead of 38 may not seem like such a big deal, if you go into details, this difference is quite an important one. First of all, the extra “00” pocket means the odds for each type of bet are lower. However, the most important aspect is the difference in vig for the two roulette types. While for the European Roulette the vig (or house edge) is 2.7%, the extra pocket on American Roulette takes the edge to 5.26%.
Very similar to European Roulette, the French version of the game can seem identical to the untrained eye. The pockets are identical and, apart from the different language on the table layout, things don’t seem to be one bit different. However, the “En Prison” and “La Partage” rules of French Roulette make it a very advantageous version for players. With “En Prison”, if you placed an “Even” bet and the ball stops on 0, you have the chance to get half of your stake back. There’s also the option of leaving your stake untouched for the following round. However, if it hits 0 again, the “Even” wager is lost. The “La Partage” rule doesn’t give players the option to withdraw half their wager if the ball lands on 0, 50% of the stake is automatically returned to them in this situation.
These two extra rules of French Roulette makes it the best type out there. However, the downside is that you’ll rarely find it at online casinos. Even so, it’s good practice to go through these online roulette tips for beginners and be prepared in case you do find such an opportunity.
With the extra 00 pocket, the American roulette should usually be avoided when playing online. Sure, you have one extra number that can give you a 35:1 payout. However, because of that extra pocket, the odds of that happening are lower, and the house edge is higher compared to European Roulette.
Frequently Asked Questions
It all depends on the type of roulette table you join. The minimum bet on a standard roulette game is usually €0.20 or the equivalent in other currencies. However, VIP or high-stakes tables can start with a €5 minimum.
Once more, it’s all about the type of table you join. While regular roulette tables cap maximum bets at €500 or €700, high roller games can accept wagers as high as €75,000.
The European and French Roulette wheels have 37 numbers – from 1 to 36 plus 0 – while American also features the 00 pockets taking the total to 38.
Betting on 0 or 00 at a roulette table generates the same payout as any other straight bet – 35:1. So, while the 0 and 00 pockets have a special feel to them, the payout is identical.
There’s no statistic or pattern out there supporting the idea that the ball lands more frequently on certain numbers. However, some dealers tend to send the ball on specific number tiers.
There’s no reason for casinos to cheat players in roulette. The law of large numbers, together with the house edge, guarantees a profit for the dealer. However, illegal casinos may resort to cheating as well, to boost that profit.