How to Play Roulette

Roulette is a casino and gambling game named after the French word meaning "small wheel". In the game of roulette, a croupier spins a wheel in one direction, then spins a ball in the opposite direction around a tilted circular surface running around the circumference of the wheel.

The ball eventually falls on to the wheel and into one of 37 (in European roulette) or 38 (in American roulette) colored and numbered pockets on the wheel. Players place bets on the winning number and the color of the pocket, whether the number is odd or even, etc.

Roulette Wheel Layout

The main pockets are numbered from 1 to 36 alternating between red and black, but the pockets are not in numerical order around the wheel, and there are instances of consecutive numbers being the same color.

There is a green pocket numbered 0, and in American roulette there is also a second green pocket marked 00.

Roulette Betting

Players can place a variety of 'inside' bets (selecting the number of the pocket the ball will land in, or range of pockets based on their position), and 'outside' bets (including bets on various positional groupings of pockets, pocket colors, or whether it is odd or even).

The payout odds for each type of bet is based on its probability.

The table usually imposes minimum and maximum bets, and these rules usually apply separately for all of a player's 'inside' and 'outside' bets for each spin.

Players can continue to place bets at the roulette table until the dealer announces "No more bets."