Roulette

At the heart of every casino is the 37-numbered pocketed wheel known as Roulette, on which a small white ball is sent spinning around. Beside the magic wheel is the table map, where bets are placed and where everything is controlled by a Dealer, also known as the Croupier, who takes the bets and spins the ball. The colours are mainly black and red, the neutral pocket(s) are coloured green.

In the past, the roulette ball was made from ivory, but has since been replaced by materials such as acetal, nylon and phenolic.

The history of Roulette is not clear. The game draws from Chinese, French, Italian and German influences, however in the end the game adopted its French moniker, which means small wheel.

Originally, the wheel included the numbers from 1 to 36. However, Louis and Francois Blanc found a way to give the bank a mathematical advantage by introducing the Zero slot in 1843, giving the wheel 37 pockets, which incidentally makes Roulette one of the fairest casino games of all.

The American version of Roulette includes the 00 Pocket, which gives a slightly higher advantage to the bank.

By adding all the numbers of the wheel, the sums results to 666.

French mathematician Blaise Pascal invented the order of the pockets on the wheel. Clockwise the order is – with a payout of 1:35 hitting the right number:
0, 32, 15, 19, 4, 21, 2, 25, 17, 34, 6, 27, 13, 36, 11, 30, 8, 23, 10, 5, 24, 16, 33, 1, 20, 14, 31, 9, 22, 18, 29, 7, 28, 12, 35, 3, 26.

The American version has an adjusted order, due to the fact of the adding the extra 00 Pocket (payout also at 1:35):
0, 28, 9, 26, 30, 11, 7, 20, 32, 17, 5, 22, 34, 15, 3, 24, 36, 13, 1, 00, 27, 10, 25, 29, 12, 8, 19, 31, 18, 6, 21, 33, 16, 4, 23, 35, 14, 2.

In the middle of the wheel an upraised ball is placed in case of a Dealer mistake. In order for a game round to be classified as valid, the ball must make three revolutions around the wheel.

Wheel Rotation Change

Usually, after a spin the rotational direction is changed by the Dealer, from clockwise to anti-clockwise and vice versa. That said, there is no specific rule for changing wheel direction, and every table decides should a change be done or not. The reasoning behind the change of rotation, is to make the prediction of upcoming results less predictable.

The wheel is divided into three main sections. These sections are named after their French counterparts, with one subsection in German.

The different sections

Voisins du zéro / neighbors of zero

The section around the section of the zero includes the 17 numbers from 22 up to 25 on the wheel order:
22, 18, 29, 7, 28, 12, 35, 3, 26, 0, 32, 15, 19, 4, 21, 2, 25.

Zero Spiel / zero game

This section is a subsection of Voisins du zéro, it includes by the name the history of the German influence on this game. The 7 pockets are going from 12 – 15:
12, 35, 3, 26, 0, 32, 15.

Orphelins / orphans

This section of 8 number is divided up into 2 asymmetric parts, it goes from 1 – 9 (1, 20, 14, 31, 9) plus 17 – 6 (17, 34, 6). It includes the important number 17, which is going to be mentioned later closer. Logically this section is either a neighbor of zero and neither the third section tiers du cylindre.

Le tiers du cylindre / third of the wheel

The section on the opposite side to the zero is called the third of wheel. It includes the 12 numbers from 27 to 33:
27, 13, 36, 11, 30, 8, 23, 10, 5, 24, 16, 33.

Inside vs Outside bets

Different betting options are available depending upon the Player’s intuition including an Inside Bet (directly connected to the fields of numbers) or an Outside Bet (connected to group of numbers). These bets show up the betting strategies on the field, if the chips are placed on inner or outer betting field.

Inside bets

Straight/Single bet

Straight/Single bet is a bet on a specific number, when the chip is placed directly on the chosen number. Payout is 35:1.

Split bet

Split bet is a bet when 2 numbers are chosen, the chip is placed horizontally or vertically on the borderline between two numbers. Payout is 17:1.

Street bet

Street bet is a bet when 3 ordered numbers are chosen, the chip is placed on the left borderline of the lowest number or to the right borderline of the highest number. Payout is 11:1.
Six line/Double Street is a bet when two street bets merge with each other. It gets placed on the edge of both lines. Payout is 5:1.

Corner bet

Corner bet is a bet when 4 numbers are chosen, which are physically ordered in a square on the table map. The chip gets placed on the edge, where all fields fall into. Payout is 8:1.

Outside bets

Low & High bets

Low Bet or High Bet is a bet placed on the numbers from 1 to 18 (Low) or 19 to 36 (High). French title for this bet is manque or passe. Payout is 1:1.

Colour bet

Placing the chip on red (rouge) or black (noir) brings a payout of 1:1.

Even/Odd bet

Placing the chip on an even (pair) or an odd (impair) number brings a payout of 1:1.

Dozen bet

Betting on one of the 3 dozen includes the sections 1 to 12 as First Dozen (première douzaine), 13 to 24 as Second Dozen (moyenne douzaine) and 25 to 36 as Third Dozen (dernière douzaine). Payout is 2:1.

Column bet

The transformed dozen betting is the column betting. It includes the combination of numbers 1, 4, 7, 10, 13, 16, 19, 22, 25, 28, 31, 34 as First Column (première colonne);
2, 5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, 23, 26, 29, 32, 35 as Second Column (seconde colonne);
3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24, 27, 30, 33, 36 as Third Column (troisième colonne). Payout is 2:1.

Bets with 0/00

Trio is called a combination of betting the numbers 0,1,2 or 0,2,3. Note, the second version is just for the European version of roulette. Payout is 11:1.
Basket is called the combination of the numbers 0,1,2,3 at the European version. Payout is 8:1. The American version includes the 00, this is why the basket bet gets also called five number bet includes 0, 00, 1, 2, 3, when the chip gets placed on the edge of all fields. Payout is 6:1.

The myth about 17

The most common number chosen by Players as the center of the table map is 17, which appears to have gained popularity since the release of James Bond movie Diamonds are Forever starring Sean Connery. Mathematically speaking the number 17 has the same probability as the 0.

Strategies at Roulette

There are different strategies at Roulette. One strategy is the Neighbour Bet Strategy which depends on the result of the previous round. Another strategy is the Red Snake Strategy which is a static bet and does not depends on the previous result.

Zero – the enemy of the outside bets

When the 0 lands as the result the even bet is directly lost in the American version of the game while in the European version half of the stake is refunded or the amount is imprisoned and the result of the upcoming result – which is not a 0 – will count as a bet. The rules vary from casino to casino, so it always best to ask the Dealer for that tables particular rules. In online casinos, roulette games which include the word “French“ in the title, usually refund half of the stake in such instances.

Fighting the result predictions

The casinos are about to make the upcoming result as unpredictable as possible. Online casinos typically like to introduce new ideas regarding the change of wheel rotation, different speed rotations, and also different ball spin strategies regarding the speed. However it is important to note that there is no significant proof that any of these factors influence the unpredictability of the game. At the end of the day, real Croupiers understand that it is the small diamonds inside of the wheel that influence the result more than any such superficial influences.