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$50 Free American Roulette
Players bet on numbers, spreads of number combinations and colors, generated by the fall of a small ivory ball onto a spinning wheel which is divided into 37 or 38 numbered slots, depending on the version being played. Some European casinos have only a “0”. Street Bet - A bet that covers a row of three numbers on the table. Pays 11:1. Five Number Bet - This bet covers only the numbers 0, 00, 1, 2 and 3. Pays 6:1 if any one of the numbers comes up. Column Bets - A bet on which of the three columns of numbers the ball may landon. Pays 2:1. Roulette is said by some to have been started or invented way back in 1655 by the French scientist Blaise Pascal, during his monastic retreat, and first played in a makeshift casino in Paris. There are two standard styles of roulette tables found in American casinos. One is the standard table, which has one betting layout with the roulette wheel at one end; the other, called the double-end table, has two layouts with the wheel in the center between them. A double-end table with two layouts is operated by either three or four croupiers. The croupier who spins the wheel and deals the game is called the "wheel roller" by casino employees. The players begin by making their bets, placing chips on the spaces of the layout in the manner permitted by the applicable rules for the area/state/country etc. The numbers alternate pairs of odd numbers with pairs of even numbers. A dealer, or croupier spins the wheel in one direction and then rolls a small ball in the other direction. Roulette would be a great game were it not for the highhouse edge - usually 5.26%, sometimes as low as 2.63%, which is still higherthan blackjack, craps, or baccarat. Making a bet is easy - you just place your chip(s) on the number(s), color, orsets you want to bet on. You don't have to make just one kind of bet foreach spin, you can make several, and you win if the ball lands on any of yournumbers. Don't reach for your winnings until the dealerremoves the marker, or the dealer will scold you. New players often have to betold this repeatedly the first time they play because they kept forgetting andbecause they're excited about collecting their winnings. Sometimes the dealerwill ask you "Inside or Outside? " when you're buying chips, to findout whether you're making inside bets (the ones listed in purple in the table,on specific numbers) or outside bets (the ones listed in yellow, on kinds ofnumbers) That way, you're not locked inand you always have the ability to change your mind. In other games the color of the chipdenotes the denomination, but in Roulette the color denotes only which playerthe chip belongs to. It's important tounderstand that the outcome of the roulette wheel is truly random. There's an old saying,"The wheel has no memory. There have been 152 spins (coincidentally,4 x 38), and so we expect that each number should have come up 4 times onaverage. You can certainly switch toanother number if you want, but that won't improve or worsen your chances. On an American wheel,there are 38 spots - numbers 1-36, plus 0 and 00. Your odds of winning aone-number bet are 37 to 1 (37 ways to lose, 1 way to win) if you win, thecasino doesn't pay you 37 to 1, they pay you less - 35 to 1. European games have an option called en prison which reduces the house edgeto 1.35%, but it's generally not available in the U.S., even in casinos that usethe European wheel. One to six players are seated at the roulette table. Players purchase special roulette chips, each player with his own color, so that the dealer can tell who made a winning bet and pay off that player. The chips generally have a set value of 25 or 50 cents. It is important to note that these roulette chips must be cashed in at the table. This area is referred to as the "inside" betting area. You will get 2-to-1 odds if you select the winning number within the first, second or third dozen numbers. Again, your original bet is left on the number or combination of numbers and it is up to you to reclaim that bet. Each game begins when the dealer (sometimes called croupier) spins the wheel in one direction, and then rolls a little ivory ball along the inner edge of the wheel in the opposite direction. As the wheel turns, the ball loses momentum. Incidentally, there are about 90 spins or games played per hour, on average. All in all, that edge is comparable to the "rake" in poker, and in some bets on the craps table, in baccarat and other games including sports betting. The player has a 1 in 37 chance of winning and still gets 35 to 1.
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