In short: In roulette you buy coloured wheel chips, place them on numbers or groups of numbers, and the dealer spins the ball and pays winning bets. Standard bets carry a 2.70% house edge on single-zero wheels and 5.26% on double-zero wheels, except the 7.89% five-number bet on double-zero tables.
Roulette involves betting on the pocket in which a ball will land. The main decisions are which bets to place and how much to risk; these choices do not let a player predict a fair spin. Learn the layout and the table’s rules before staking money.
The sequence of the game
First, ask the dealer about chip values and table limits. Many physical tables assign a different colour of roulette chips to each player. Chip denomination and the minimum permitted bet are different things; neither has a universal fixed value.
Second, players need to place one or more chips on a particular number;
Third, the dealer spins the ball;
Fourth, the dealer settles each bet according to the winning number. A winning bet does not necessarily mean a profit on the whole round if other bets lost.
Players can also bet on groups of numbers, colours, or odd/even. Standard single-zero bets generally have a 2.70% house edge, and standard double-zero bets 5.26%. Exceptions include the double-zero five-number bet at 7.89%, and eligible even-money bets with special half-back zero rules.
The value of every chip is dependent on the amount the player paid for the stack. In case he/she pays more than the table minimum, the dealer will usually place a special marker (a ”lamer”) on the rim of the wheel. This way the dealer will be reminded of what the player’s chips are worth. Chips for the game can be purchased with cash or with regular casino chips, which the player got from the main cashier or from another table game. When a person is done playing, the dealer will exchange his/her remaining roulette chips for regular casino chips.
It is worth noting that players cannot remove the colored roulette chips from the table. These chips cannot be used for other purposes, while their value is known only to the dealer, from whom players purchased them. At times, a player may participate in the game with cash or with regular casino chips. However, this is usually only possible as long as no other player at the table does the same. In such a case, one of the players might be asked to purchase the colored roulette chips. This is usually done in order to prevent confusion.
The roulette table
Now, let us say a few words about the roulette table. It usually includes the betting layout and the wheel, as the latter is located at one end of the table. In some cases, in Europe, the table has a double-ended layout, while the roulette wheel is situated in the center. A dealer, known as a croupier in France, oversees each of the layouts. In case too many people gather around the table, a second dealer can be seen. He/she is called a checkracker (or a mucker) and assists in stacking of the roulette chips. In the United States there may be no human checkrackers, as a number of newer casinos have introduced automatic checkracking machines.
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Dealing procedures and layouts vary by table. Follow the dealer’s instructions, stop betting when betting closes, and wait until settlement is complete before placing the next round’s chips.
Further reading: Gambling Commission guidance on understanding game rules.
