How to Place Bets at the Roulette Table

Viewers who watched the historical drama The Duchess may have been surprised to see the title character, the 18th century aristocrat the Duchess of Devonshire, playing at what looks like a roulette table. But in fact, roulette has been around since as early as 1796 in Paris.

The most memorable movie scene involving roulette, however, and one which underlines the glamour and romance of the game, may have been in the classic Casablanca, in which casino owner Rick Blaine arranges for a young newlywed to win big at the roulette table so that he and his wife can escape to America.

There are two types of roulette wheel – the American and the European; the major difference being that American wheels have a 00 while the European variety has only one zero.

There are two types of bets you can make in roulette – inside and outside (based on the type of wheel).

There are five types of inside bets – straight, split, street, corner, and five number (with and without zero). Outside bets are red, black, odd, even, dozen and column bets.

There are six types of outside bets – one zero, two zeros, four, five, six, eight, nine, and ten; these offer a lower house advantage than inside bets, but the advantage is still relatively high. Outside bets are also available in American roulette, but this has only two types – the 0 and 00 styles of the wheel, and there is an extra ’00’ number, the ‘double-zero’.

Inside bets are placed – inside are the traditional in-bow type bets, and outside bets are the more modernized type with their numbers, colours and even and odd slots. Outside bets can be placed in a ‘column’ or ‘line’ bet, which covers a entire row of numbers and, more surprisingly, two or more lines can be covered in one bet.

However, it is with the outside bets that the roulette specialist Blanks the Banker, an American author, makes a name. He claims that roulette is not a purely random game like the majority of online roulette games, as it has a bias in favour of the casinos that offers the house a 5.26% edge over the players. The explanation for this is that some roulette wheels are not manufactured to be random, and the ball is often influenced by the way the dealer spins the wheel.

Most of the ‘how to win at roulette’ guides online are focused on the ‘how to win at roulette’ aspect of the game, but the fact that the game has a negative expected value makes it a poor choice for even the well-read player. For the true-to-form this is probably the most important of all the roulette tips you will ever receive.

How to win at roulette is a simple game, but you can win as much as 70% of the time if you have the strategy right. It’s simple to learn and easy to implement, and if you even thought about trying to cheat the casino to make some cash, there are excellent strategies available to any would-be roulette criminal. However, would-be roulette cheats easily learn the house edge of the game very quickly, and will soon be broke.

Some simple strategy is available, such as betting more on red than odd, or vice versa. This is crude and basic, but it will help you learn the tip of the iceberg.

Myths and Misconceptions

Misunderstandings and myths often surround roulette, and it’s easy to believe some of the things mentioned below have created a great many myths.

Roulette is a random game of chance – Well it may not be completely random as the wheel has a bias, but the same cannot be said of blackjack.

Blackjack is a game of skill – With basic strategy, mathematical certainty rules – the casino does not control the outcomes of the game in any way.

Roulette is a game of money – the more you play, the more you have at risk.

Dewacasino is a game of skill – With card counting, you can gain an edge.

Roulette is a game of luck – Evenenko Franklyseveredlysposed to win at roulette is luck, not skill.

Blackjack is better than poker at beating the casino – If you have the skills, you will win more than your fair share of hands.

Craps is a game of chance – Traditional craps only offers very low returns for amounts betted. Craps is almost certainly the only game of chance that offers a system of bets with a negligible house edge.