Roulette is a casino game where a little ball rolls around a wheel and people bet on what number it will land on. It’s a simple game, but it has a certain elegance that has drawn gamblers for centuries.
The word “roulette” comes from the French noun roule, which means “little wheel.” There is no doubt that this name is apt: the game is like a tiny spinning disc that can bring great rewards to players who know how to play.
Roulette can be played in casinos and other gambling establishments, as well as online. There are also many variations of the game, such as multiball roulette games with up to three balls, no-zero versions that eliminate the single zero slot, and mini-roulettes with a smaller wheel and less expensive betting limits.
When it comes to making money at the casino, most serious bettors use a strategy to predict which number the ball will hit when the dealer spins the wheel. Successful prediction requires knowing how to read the layout of the table and the wheel, as well as understanding how the odds of each type of bet vary. Prediction strategies may also involve identifying specific flaws in the wheel and table that can be exploited to maximize profits.
To begin, it’s important to set a budget before entering the casino and choose a roulette table within your price range. Each table carries a placard that describes the minimum and maximum bets allowed. The minimum bet is typically the size of a single chip; larger chips are available for higher-level bets. You’ll also need to decide which bet types you want to place, as each has a different house edge.
A good place to start is with outside bets, which are placed on the numbered section of the table and have lower house edges than inside bets. These bets include bets on individual numbers, various groupings of numbers, the color red or black, and whether a number is high (19-36) or low (1-18).
Inside bets, which are placed on the inside of the numbered area, have much higher house edges but offer much bigger payouts. These bets include bets such as the “dozen” bet, which places chips on one of the dozen boxes that contain numbers 1 through 12, and the “red/black” and “odd/even” bets, which wager on whether a number is odd or even.
The house edge in roulette is 2.70%, and it can be further reduced to 1.35% by using the La Partage rule, which divides even-money bets into half for the dealer and half for the player. There are also a number of other factors that can affect the house edge, including the layout of the numbered area on the wheel and the fact that it is not always possible to predict where the ball will land.
