Roulette has offered glamour, mystery and excitement to casino-goers since the 17th century. Its rules are relatively simple and the game is easy to understand, but the right strategy can reap high rewards. Before you start placing your chips, read up on the different bet types and house edge to make sure you’re comfortable with the risks and payouts involved.
Roulette Bet Types
There are two major categories of roulette bets: inside and outside bets. Inside bets include straight-up, split, street and corner bets. They have a higher house edge but the payoffs are greater. Outside bets include red/black, odd/even, high/low, dozens and column bets. Outside bets have a lower house edge but the payoffs are much smaller.
Choosing the right bet type is crucial to your success. The first step is to set a budget before you enter the casino and choose a table that offers a minimum betting amount that’s within your limit. Each roulette table carries a placard with the minimum and maximum bets allowed.
After you’ve placed your bets, the croupier throws the ball into the roulette wheel and the players wait. Once the wheel stops spinning, the dealer will place a marker on the winning number and clears all losing bets off the layout. Then, the winners are paid and the process begins again.
Each player is issued a color of chip that represents his or her wager value. The croupier will ask the player to decide how much of that denomination he or she wants to assign to each bet. Then, the dealer will exchange those colored chips for chips of a higher value and hand them to the player.
Some players like to watch the other players in a game of roulette, hoping they can pick up clues about their opponents’ strategies. However, watching the other players is not likely to improve your odds of winning more than simply by chance. The best way to improve your odds is to stick to a predetermined betting budget and do not dip into your winnings.
There are some well-known roulette strategies, such as the Martingale and D’Alembert systems, that involve increasing your bet size after each loss and decreasing it after a win. These methods are designed to recover your losses and minimize your winnings, but they’re not foolproof.
Regardless of which strategy you use, it’s important to play with a reputable online casino. A reputable casino will offer a secure, encrypted connection between your computer and the website, so you can feel safe and confident about your personal information. Also, look for a site that offers a free trial period to see if it’s the right fit for you. If you’re not satisfied, switch to a different casino.