Roulette Rules and Strategy

If you want to try your hand at roulette, you should first understand the rules and strategy. Roulette has a wheel that comprises of 38 numbers ranging from 1 to 36, 0 and 00. When the players place their wagers on the table on a particular number or color, the wheel is spun. Then a ball is placed on the wheel which then drops into a pocket that is numbered as the wheel slows down. The aim of the game is to figure out on which number or color the ball will drop when the wheel stops.

The table where the bets are placed has all the numbers that are mentioned on the wheel. The numbers are arranged sequentially in three columns, with each column having 12 numbers. The numbers can be red or black.

In roulette, you can place two types of bet, namely inside bet and outside bet. There are 6 types of inside bets and they are straight bet, split bet, street bet, corner bet, five number bet and line bet. There are three types of outside bets, namely even money bet, column bet and dozen bet. A player can place as many bets as he wants. There are no restrictions.

Roulette is not a fast paced game. This is primarily because of the rules and the bets. There is no fixed time to place your bets. You can place the even after the wheel is spun. The only time you cannot place your chips on a number or color is when the croupier waves his or her hands over the table. Sometimes, the croupier can also say loudly 'No more bets'. Once the ball lands in the pocket, the croupier will say the number aloud and place a marker on the table where the number is located. Then all the chips are taken by the croupier and the winners are paid. Once this happens, the croupier will say, "Place your bets". It is only then new chips are placed for the next spin.

The placing of bets occurs a little different on online roulette. Here there is no croupier or dealer. Everything is automated by way of a software. So, you will get signs and signals which will show you when you can place your bets and what the winning number is. Usually the winning number is displayed on the top right of the computer screen. Even the previous winning numbers are displayed here.

Usually roulette tables have minimum bets. For instance, if the table has $5 minimum, it means that you necessarily have to place a $5 bet on the outside bets. The inside bets can be each of $5 or they total of your inside bets should add up to $5. In case you are betting on black or red, odd or even, or high or low, then each bet has to be of $5. Therefore, when playing roulette, you have to pay special attention to the minimum bet amount accepted at a table.

Here are some roulette strategies that players adopt to increase their odds of winning at a roulette table:

The most common strategy used to increase the odds of winning is the Martingale strategy. In this strategy, after every loss, the wager is doubled. So, with just one win, all the previous losses are recovered and the player also makes a little profit that is equal to the original amount that was wagered. However, this strategy is not good for long term use as the player is bound to suffer from severe financial losses.

Some players use the Fibonacci system as a strategy. This is basically a scoring system where the score is calculated depending on the winning numbers. The score that is calculated is based on the situation that is prevalent on the table and this influences the gamer's betting decision. Compared to the Martingale betting system, the Fibonacci system is quite stable for short runs.

Here is another strategy that some use, but this particular strategy is not used for winning. The strategy was described in a book entitled 24/7 written by Andres Martinez, New York Times editor. The bankroll for the roulette has to be divided into 35 parts. Then each par has to be wagered on a particular number for 35 successive spins. In these 35 spins, if the ball lands on the number, the gamer will win back his or her original bankroll. However, if the number does not come, then the gamer would have had a ball of time playing roulette!

Another strategy is to bet just on the ball dropping in the red space. The roulette table has 18 red spaces out of the total of 38 spaces. This means that the probability that the ball will land on a red space is 47.37 percent. Using this probability, a gamer can place bets just on red for 38 spins. There is a 99-percent chance that the ball will land on the red at least ten times if the wheel is spun 38 times. However, this strategy is not always successful.