Rules
and how to play Roulette:
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 center 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 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. (See Roulette Quiz
- The Casino 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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