Live Roulette Rules

In a game of roulette, a wheel with numbered and coloured pockets is mounted on a table and spun round by the dealer. A metal ball bearing is spun around its inner edge while the wheel is in motion, and eventually falls into one of the pockets. The players place bets on which pocket or pockets they think the ball will fall into. The pockets are coloured in an alternating red and black pattern, broken only by the green zero or double zero pockets.

Two types of bet in Roulette

There are essentially two types of bet in roulette - inside bets and outside bets. These are named after the part of the betting layout that the chip is placed upon in order to make the bet. Inside bets are bets placed on a single number or a small range of numbers. Outside bets are bets on a large range of numbers, such as 1-18, or a colour, which can be either red or black. Winnings depend on the size of the stake and the odds associated with the bet. Outside bets tend to offer shorter odds than inside bets. Most tables have an upper limit to how much the players can bet in each game, and some also have minimum bets as well. Bets can be placed right up until the dealer calls 'no more bets' which is usually a little while after the wheel has started spinning.

While you can place inside bets on the green pocket(s), you cannot do so with outside bets. This means that if the ball falls into a green pocket, only inside bets can win, which gives the house a statistical edge. In European style roulette, there is one green pocket, and in American style roulette, there are two, with the second being numbered with a double zero (00).