Roulette – How to Play
and Win

Having a goal of staying ahead when playing roulette, even if
it is only a relatively small amount, is more realistic than
having a goal of making millions.
Now that we have our feet back on the ground…let us talk
about the basics of roulette. However, if you are already ready
to play visit one of the online
casinos that we recommend to get started.

Terms and Definitions

The Roulette Rules

Don’t let the
various terms above frustrate you. They are not as ominous as
you may think, because they all derive from a very basic premise.
So, are you ready for your first trip to the roulette wheel?

Stepping up to the
table for the first time can be intimidating, so spend some
time here, reading this article on the basic how-to of the game,
in order to gain the confidence you need to proceed! If playing
roulette online is going to be your practice field before a
live performance, we can spend some time on that as well…later.

For starters, roulette
moves relatively slow, so the roulette table may be a wise jumping
off place to get your feet wet and begin to enjoy your casino
experience. Its nature is subdued and quiet, and by proxy of
that attitude it tends to draw a more ”civilized”
crowd.

Secondly, roulette
has its own set of chips, which are not the same as the other
tables and games in the casino. When you trade your regular
money or chips in, they will give you a stack of roulette chips.
They will be all the same color. Everyone playing at the table
uses their own color, as this is the only way the dealers can
keep track of what bet belongs to whom.

The value of the color
of chips is the dealers’ decision, and he/she will make
it known to everyone playing at the roulette table, because
all the chips at the table have the same value. Dealers will
place what is known as a “lamer” on top of a chip
of that color. If you see the person beside you with red chips
and you see a lamer on a stack of red chips with $100 printed
on it, you know that stack of red chips is worth $100. Stacks
of chips are usually 20 deep, so the $100 marker on the stack
will tell you that the chips are worth $5 each ($5 x 20 chips
= $100).

Okay, your money is
down, you have been assigned some chips and your color; you
are ready to play the game of roulette!

Actually
placing the physical bet in roulette is easy and only requires
dexterity. However, there are different places you can put bets
down, so it can be rather befuddling to begin with. Bets basically
fall into one of two categories: inside bets and outside bets.
Naturally, being on the outside of the table makes those bets
placed there “outside bets” and conversely, the inside
bets are the ones on the main grid of numbers, which are located
on the inside of the roulette table.

To place a bet, take
your roulette chip(s) and put it (them) down where you want
to bet. It really is as simple as it sounds, keeping in mind
that, outside bets must each be at least the table minimum,
whereas inside bets only have to total the table minimum. What
does that mean? If the table minimum is $10, outside bets each
has to be $10, no matter how many there are. However, on your
inside bets you can make two $5 bets or ten $1 bets. You can
make as many different bets as you want at any given time. You
can even bet on red and black at the same time, although there
is not really going to be an advantage in doing so. As long
as your bet total is at least the table minimum, but under the
maximum, you are okay.

You can place a bet
almost any time you want while the roulette session is going.
I said almost because there is a "cut off" point.
Let me explain. After one spin is completed and the losing bets
have been swept off, you will see other gamblers starting to
lay their roulette bets down for the next spin. This usually
takes a while, so do not think that you have to rush to place
your bets. You can do that all the way up to the point where
the dealer will wave his hand(s) over the table and yells "no
more bets!” He/she will not do this until after the ball
has been spinning for a little while, and bets can be placed
while the roulette wheel is still in motion, all you need to
pay attention to is the dealer.

When the ball stops
and comes to a rest, the dealer(s) will begin to pay the winning
bets, and sweep the board clean of losing bets. If you watch
a few rounds, you quickly come to realize that the casino always
seems to sweep away more bets than it pays off. As long as they
are not your bets, I guess you will be doing well!

That’s it! It
is not too complicated at all. In fact roulette is a very easy
game to learn, and even easier to play. The casinos often try
to give the ambience of sophistication because it attracts money
to the roulette table. Do not let this keep you from enjoying
a spin or two.

Online Roulette

We discussed online
gambling and practice of the roulette wheel earlier. Let us
discuss some differences as well as similarities, and then offer
you some suggestions that will help both online and real-life
gaming strategies.

Online roulette is
a really good attempt by the Internet gurus to simulate the
real thing. However, there are some major differences between
the two, and they are pretty obvious upon observation. Where
you are is a good place to start. Standing live in front of
a roulette table fully clothed and alone in your house is vastly
different than playing in a real casino, where it is part of
the casino dealer’s job to try and pull your attention
away from the game. Sometimes, they will try anything to do
just that! So, remember, that although online roulette may allow
you to get comfortable with the basic rules and practices of
the game, there really is no way it can prepare you for the
atmosphere of the real casino.

First you’re operating
in a vacuum when playing online roulette, because you are not
dealing with physical people and the competition they present.
Casinos are also full of other things that easily distract you.

Second thought that
occurs to me, and I’m sure others as well when considering
online versus real life roulette is that of security. What do
I mean? Well, in real life, you watch as the little ball jumps
around and gets thrown back and forth on pegs, edges and the
like, and then it quite randomly falls into place. This somehow
affords you the feeling that you “have a chance” and
that it is not predictable and “rigged”. This element
is missing when going online to play. However, as long as you
only play at the online casinos
we recommend, you can rest assured that the software is honest.

Roulette Strategies and Betting Systems

When it comes to roulette
strategy, there are a number of effective betting
systems that can help you become a winner.

The math behind roulette
is simple, and it is fairly encouraging since the game of roulette
has a relatively low “house edge”. That is to say…knowing
it does help you “beat the wheel” but only if you
use it together with a good betting
system. At his point we need to discuss “house edge”.

This is the percentage
or odds that the house gives you for winning. Most American
casinos quote a roulette house edge of 5.31% for every bet except
one. The other bet, the five-number bet, gives a more dismal
house edge of 7.13%. What it comes down is this: if you want
something that works, look for extended rules when you play.

For instance, some online
casinos use a rule called ‘surrender’. When playing
with this rule (and you need to find out if its in place BEFORE
playing) you have the closest thing to a strategy that ever
was. Many online casinos also
offer single zero roulette, which brings down the house edge
to a very low 2,7%.

The surrender rule applies
only to outside bets that pay even money. These bets are: red/black,
even/odd, and high/low. If the ball lands on 0 or 00 then you
only lose half of what you placed as a bet instead of all of
it. When casinos use this rule, then the house edge starts to
drop to around 2.5% for American roulette and 1.35% for single
zero roulette. This rule works very much in your favour, and
if it is in use it makes roulette one of the best casino games
to play.

There are several strategies and betting
systems that are worth trying to learn to increase your
chances of winning at this game. However, there are a few sites
on the Internet selling betting systems which try to teach you
how to systematically beat an online casino’s roulette
game, but these are usually a waste of money.

Have fun! Relax! Enjoy!