How To Play Roulette – Beginners Guide

Roulette is one of the most popular casino games since the 17th century. Its rules are relatively simple and easy to understand. Nevertheless, Roulette offers excitement for its players. There are three different types of Roulette: European Roulette, French Roulette and American Roulette. These versions are very similar but have slight differences that need to be known.

Playing Roulette

Roulette is played using a roulette wheel that has either 37 or 38 numbers, depending if there’s a double zero (American Roulette) or not. The numbers on the wheel are not sorted but the colour alternates between red and black. The specific order depends on the type of Roulette.

Roulette starts with players making bets after the croupier (dealer) announced the start of the betting round by saying “Place your bets!”. You can bet on an individual number or on many different groups of numbers as well as on the color or odd/even. But more later. The croupier then throws a ball into the spinning roulette wheel. Players can place bets as until the croupier announces, “No more bets!”. After that you wait until the ball lands on a number in the wheel. This number is the winning number and all bets are evaluated accordingly. Winnings are paid out and losing bets are collected by the croupier.

Apart from the wheel, there is also a roulette table with a layout used by players to place their bets. This layout can be seen in the image below:

Special Rules

Depending on the type of Roulette you are playing, there are a few special rules that needs to be considered. These special rules are beneficial to the player, as they reduce the edge of the house and make players lose less money in the long run. These rules are not standard rules, so you have to check if your (online) casino offers them.

La Partage

La Partage is a rule offered on some French and European Roulette tables. If you place an even chance bet (red/black, odd/even, 1-18/19-36) and the ball lands on 0, half of the wager is returned to you. 

So, for example, if you place € 100 on red and the winning number is 0, you get € 50 back thanks to this rule.

En Prison

En Prison is similar to La Partage but a little bit more complex. If you place an even chance bet and the ball lands on 0, your bet remains on the table and the croupier places a marker on it, which signalizes that your bet is in prison. After the next round the bet is evaluated. If an imprisoned bet wins, the original wager is returned, otherwise the money is lost. Like the previous rule, this rule applies to European and French Roulette.

So, for example, if you bet € 100 on even, and the winning number is 0, your bet remains on the table for the next round. If the next winning number is even, you get back your initial bet of € 100.

Surrender

This rule is basically the same as the La Partage rule but applies to both 0 and 00 in the American Roulette game. If you place an even chance bet and the ball lands on 0 or 00, half of each even money bet is returned to the player.

Inside Bets

Inside bets can be placed directly on the numbers on the roulette table. This are the hardest bets to win, but the most rewarding ones.

Most of the bets stated above are available in all three different versions of Roulette. However, the trio and basket bet can only be played on single zero Roulette, whereas the top line bet can only be played on double zero games.

Outside Bets

Outside bets are not placed directly on the numbers but on the sectors outside of the numbers on the roulette table. These bets are easier to win, as they are placed on large groups and therefore are rewarded with a lower pay-out.