If you aren’t a roulette player, but have walked past a busy roulette wheel in a casino, you may have wondered what all the excitement and commotion was. There is definitely something almost magical and mesmerizing about the spinning wheel and sound of the Ivory ball clinking around and finally settling into one of the pockets. Here is an introduction to the game of roulette for new players.
There are two different types of popular roulette wheels. The most common wheel in the United States is a double zero wheel called American roulette. The American roulette wheel contains the numbers 1 through 36, a 0 and a 00. This creates a house edge of over 5%. The wheel that is most common worldwide is a single zero wheel that is usually called a European roulette wheel. They contain a 0 and the numbers 1 through 36. The house edge on a European wheel is about 2.5%.
You can place a wide range of bets on each roulette spin, offering a wide range of payouts. Here are the most common bets and payouts.
Straight / Single number 35 to 1
Split / Two numbers 17 to 1
Street / Three numbers 11 to 1
Square / Four numbers 8 to 1
Line / Five numbers...