Roulette is a simple casino game of pure chance that has offered glamour, mystery and excitement to many players since the 17th century. Despite its seeming simplicity, the game offers a surprising depth of strategy for serious betters.
Each player gets a specific color of chip, which is stacked on the table map to distinguish bettors from one another. Unlike other casino games, roulette chips have no value away from the table. At the end of a betting round, players tell the dealer what their chips will be worth and she parcels them out. Losing bets are collected by the croupier and placed in the casino’s income, while winning bets are paid out.
The Line Bet/Six Number Bet/Sixline Bet: This bet, also known as a transversal in French, places your chip(s) to straddle the line between two rows of numbers on the table map. The payout is 11-1. The Street Bet/Three Number Bet/Side Bet: This bet, also known as cheval in French, places your chip(s) at the end of a row of three consecutive numbers on the table map. The payout is 17-1. The Dozens Bet: This bet, also known as douzaine in French, places your chip(s) on the first 12 (the first dozen), the second dozen or the third dozen. This bet pays out 2-1.
The Roulette wheel consists of a solid wooden disk slightly convex in shape with a spinning top. A number of metal partitions, referred to as separators or frets by croupiers, are positioned around the edge. Thirty-six of these compartments, painted alternately red and black, are numbered non-consecutively from 1 to 36. On European-style wheels, a green section carries the number 0, while on American-style ones, there are two 0 compartments.