Roulette

Roulette is purely a game of chance and possibly the most popular casino game. Roulette is also the fastest casino game so if you haven't played before, watch a few spins before playing.

How to play

Uniquely roulette can be played with either cash chips or colour chips. Colour chips have no value printed on them and are given to distinguish between players. The wheel contains 37 numbers - 18 red, 18 black and zero, which is green. The croupier spins the wheel and then the ball in the opposite direction.

Bets

There are many ways in which you can place a chip on a roulette table. You can place a chip either on a single number, on the border between two numbers or on the cross in the middle of 4 numbers. Of coarse when you cover two numbers you only win half the pay out but have twice the chance of winning. With four numbers you get a quarter pay out. On the table there are also bets for Red/Black, Odd/Even, and groups of numbers.

Odds & Pay Out

Bet Odds

Single No.	35-1
Split (Two No's)	17-1
Corner (Four No's)	8-1
Column (12 No's)	2-1
Dozen (12 No's in Sections)	2-1
Even Chances (Odd/Even)	1-1
Red/Black	2-1

A common rule in casinos is the '0' green rule. This is that if you you bet on even chance bets (Red/Black, Odd/even, Dozens) you only lose half the wager. This rule is more common in American casinos where roulette has two green numbers, '0' and '00'.

Roulette Techniques

There are many theories that people have published on how to beat the odds. The real truth is you can never guarantee a win, but you can only increase your chances. I will explain two theories in increasing your chances and your enjoyment of the game.

1. Before you start you need a large amount of capital but you are almost guaranteed to win. First you pick one colour and stick with that for the whole game. You start by placing you initial bet on either Red or Black. If you lose you triple your initial bet on the same colour for the next spin, the theory being it is unlikely that it can spin the same colour for any amount of time and by tripling your bet you will always win back what you have lost for all previous bets.
2. Place 2 chips on each of two dozen bets. Out of the second dozen place 1 chip on any number, 1 chip on two numbers and one chip on four numbers. this only leaves five numbers on the whole table uncovered. In theory if the number comes up on the first two dozens you will lose 1 chip. If it comes up on any of the others you have bet on you will win, however it may come up on the chips you haven't bet and you will lose all chips.

The Odds (and how to beat them)

Roulette is the game with the biggest casino edge. This is around 5% on european tables. In roulette there are two types of wheel; Biased and Unbiased. Only a biased wheel is beatable as the latter is completely random and the casinos go to great lengths to ensure the wheels have no mechanical imperfections to make them biased. On a roulette wheel there are 37 numbers and payout is only 35-1 giving the casino the edge. On an unbiased wheel each number should hit every 37 spins. If a faulty wheel spins numbers once in 30 spins, If you can find that number area you can enjoy a 20% advantage.

Unfortunately the only way to find an imperfection would be to play all the roulette tables over a number of spins. You could make a note of the numbers and work out your advantage. Many people try other methods to reduce advantage. Some croupiers get so used to spinning the always release the ball at the same point and at the same velocity. It would then be possible to calculate where the ball lands. The if you can see at which number the ball is spun and can work out the numbers. This is of course, nearly impossible given the time you would have at a roulette table.