Roulette is
one of the most popular of all gambling games
in any Casino. It dates back to the 17 th
century when it was first played in France.
The Monte Carlo Casino in Monaco is probably
the most famous Casino of all for playing
Roulette.
Players sit around a table that
has a roulette wheel at one end and usually
up to eight players sit around the table
facing the Croupier who spins the wheel and
rolls the little white ball. He handles all
the wagers and payouts. The table has a printed
layout with numbered squares and where the
various types of bets are placed.
In European and French Roulette the wheel
has 37 slots. 36 numbers from 1 to 36, plus
a Zero. In the USA the wheels have 38 slots.
They have a Zero and a double Zero.
The roulette table with a single Zero
gives the house an advantage of 2.7%. On
a table with a double zero, the house has
an advantage of 5.26%. It is gained by the
house paying the winners a chip or two less
than what it would have paid without such
advantage.
Bets are made with chips. Each player
buys his own chips of a distinctive colour
so that they can be distinguished from those
of the other players. The chips have different
money values so that when you want to you,
can exchange them for cash chips which show
their money value and which you cash in at
the money desk for real money.
The play starts when all the players
place their bets on any number of their choice,
in the centre or on the outside which are
different bets. When all the bets are placed
the croupier starts to spin the wheel and
rolls a little white ball in the opposite
direction. Before the wheel stops and before
the ball has fallen into a slot the croupier
announces “no more bets”. At
this point no player can place or change
a bet. The wheel slows and the ball falls
into a slot and that is the winning number
and the croupier places a “dolly” on
that number. All those bets that were on
or around that number or on the outside bets
that refer to that number are the winning
bets. The croupier clears all the losing
bets from the table and pays the winning
bets. The game then starts again.
To be able to win at roulette you would need
to predict in which number slot the ball
will fall. It is obvious that the only real
element in this prediction is LUCK. Some
players note the winning numbers and refer
to them as “hot” numbers and
so are likely to come up more often than
others. Other players note the numbers that
have not come up and believe that the chances
are that these numbers will start coming
up. Some players bet on many numbers at the
same time to increase their chances of a
number coming up on every spin. This of course
reduces their payout considerably. Many players
have their own system or strategy. |
