Roulette has long been one of the world’s favorite casino games since it first made its debut in 17th-century France. This timeless classic captivates players of all stripes while offering surprising depth for those with proper strategy in place.
Roulette is played on a table featuring a numbered wheel at its core. This wheel may include one or two zeros as well as several sections providing various betting opportunities. A small ball is then spun onto the wheel and comes to rest in one of several compartments on either side, indicating whether its color will be red, black, odd or even, or between two values ranges. Depending on which variety of roulette you play, house edges can differ significantly.
Before beginning to play, establish a betting unit size based on your available bankroll. This will help manage risk and avoid tapping into winnings for future bets – particularly important if using D’Alembert strategy, which calls for making smaller bets but increasing them when odds of success increase.
Each roulette table has its own set of rules, minimum and maximum betting amounts, usually $5 for minimum betting amounts and $1,000 as maximum stake. A placard at each table specifies these amounts; if in doubt, contact your dealer.
As soon as you’re ready to begin, place your chips on the roulette table corresponding to the type of bet you wish to make. Remember that betting more numbers lowers both your odds of success and payouts; start off by placing outside bets that are clustered together on the table map with lower house edges than inside bets.
Once all bets have been placed, the dealer spins the wheel quickly to reveal a winning number within seconds. Losing bets are cleared off the table while winners are paid out. When playing online roulette, choose European over American as it has a lower house edge; also look out for games offering “en prison” rule which lowers even-money bets that lose to zero to just 1.35% house edge!