Roulette is a casino and gambling game named after a French diminutive for “wheel”. In the game, players may choose to place bets on either a number, a range of numbers, the color red or black, or whether the number is odd or even. To determine the winning number and color, a croupier spins a wheel in one direction, then spins a ball in the opposite direction around a tilted circular track running around the circumference of the wheel. The ball eventually loses momentum and falls on to the wheel and into one of 37 (in European roulette) or 38 (in American roulette) colored and numbered pockets on the wheel.

Roulette wheel number sequence

The pockets of the roulette wheel are numbered from 1 to 36, alternating between red and black. There is a green pocket numbered 0 (zero). In American roulette, there is a second green pocket marked 00. Pocket number order on the roulette wheel adheres to the following clockwise sequence:

Single-zero wheel: 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

Double-zero wheel: 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.

Betting

Players can place a variety of ‘inside’ bets (selecting the number of the pocket the ball will land in, or range of pockets based on their position), and ‘outside’ bets (including bets on various positional groupings of pockets, pocket colors, or whether it is odd or even).[4] The payout odds for each type of bet is based on its probability.

The roulette table usually imposes minimum and maximum bets, and these rules usually apply separately for all of a player’s ‘inside’ and ‘outside’ bets for each spin. For ‘inside’ bets at roulette tables, some casinos may use separate table chips of various colors to distinguish players at the table. Players can continue to place bets until the dealer announces “no more bets” or “rien ne va plus”.

When a winning number and color is determined by the roulette wheel, the dealer will place a marker on that winning number on the roulette table layout. When the marker is on the table, no players may place bets, collect bets, or remove any bets from the table. The dealer will then sweep away all other losing bets either by hand or rake, and determine all of the payouts to the remaining inside and outside winning bets. When the dealer is finished making payouts, the marker is removed from the board where players collect their winnings and make new bets.

Inside bets

Straight-up: a single number bet. The chip is placed entirely on the middle of a number square.

Split: a bet on two adjoining numbers, either on the vertical or horizontal (as in 14-17 or 8-9). The chip is placed on the line between these numbers.

Street: a bet on three numbers on a single horizontal line. The chip is placed on the edge of the line of a number at the end of the line (either the left or the right, depending on the layout).

Corner (or square): a bet on four numbers in a square layout (as in 11-12-14-15). The chip is placed at the horizontal and vertical intersection of the lines between the four numbers.

Six Line: a bet on two adjoining streets, with the chip placed at the corresponding intersection, as if in between where two street bets would be placed.

Trio: a bet on the intersecting point between 0, 1, and 2, or 00, 2, and 3.

Outside bets

Outside bets typically have smaller payouts with better odds at winning.

1 to 18: a bet on one of the first low eighteen numbers coming up.

19 to 36: a bet on one of the last high eighteen numbers coming up.

Red or Black: a bet on which color the roulette wheel will show.

Even or Odd: a bet on an even or odd number.

Dozen Bets: a bet on the first (1-12), second (13-24), or third group (25-36) of twelve numbers.

Column Bets: a bet on all 12 numbers on any of the three vertical lines (such as 1-4-7-10 on down to 34). The chip is placed on the space below the final number in this string.