I’ve written previously about being a new Roulette player but I want to discuss it again after reading various posts on Reddit from new or inexperience roulette players. Many seek advice on how to place bets. Here we go; I’ll do my best to give the kind of advice which might have helped me win money playing Roulette when I was a beginner.
Stuff you should know about playing Roulette
The first thing to ask yourself is why are you playing roulette? If your sole purpose is making money, perhaps roulette isn’t for you; like all casino games roulette is designed to siphon your money into their bank account. The house always has an edge! Although Roulette gives you better odds than games like Slot Machines and others – in the end the casino wins.
No matter how good you think you are, always remember Roulette is a gambling game and you may lose all of your money!
Truth Bomb
What bets are possible
There are many different types of bets you can make in roulette. They are generally straight forward and you don’t need to remember all of them right away, that will come with more experience.
In general the more numbers you have covered by a single bet, the smaller the pay out.
The two tables below may seem confusing but don’t let that scare you.
| Bet Name | Description | Placement of Chips |
|---|---|---|
| Straight Up / single | Bet on a single number | Entirely on a single number |
| Split | Bet on two vertically/horizontally adjacent numbers (e.g. 14-17 or 8–9) | On the line dividing two numbers |
| Street | Bet on three consecutive numbers in a horizontal line (e.g. 7-8-9) | On the outer edge of the number at either end of the line |
| Corner or square | Bet on four numbers that meet at one corner (e.g. 10-11-13-14) | On the intersecting common corner |
| Six line or double street | Bet on six consecutive numbers that form two horizontal lines (e.g. 31-32-33-34-35-36) | On the outer corner shared by the two leftmost or the two rightmost numbers |
| Trio or basket Not used often | A three-number bet that involves at least one zero: 0-1-2 (either layout); 0-2-3 (single-zero only); 0-00-2 and 00-2-3 (double-zero only) | On the corner shared by the three chosen numbers |
| First four | Bet on 0-1-2-3 (single-zero layout only) | On the outer corner shared by 0-1 or 0-3 |
| Top line | Bet on 0-00-1-2-3 (double-zero layout only) | On the outer corner shared by 0-1 or 00-3 |
Below are each of the possible bets plus their respective payout.
| Bet Name | Winning Spaces | Payout |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0 | 35 to 1 |
| 00 | 00 | 35 to 1 |
| Straight up | Any single number | 35 to 1 |
| Row | 0, 00 | 17 to 1 |
| Split | Any two adjoining numbers vertical or horizontal | 17 to 1 |
| Street | Any three numbers horizontal (1, 2, 3 or 4, 5, 6, etc.) | 11 to 1 |
| Corner | Any four adjoining numbers in a block (1, 2, 4, 5 or 17, 18, 20, 21, etc.) | 8 to 1 |
| Top line (US) | 0, 00, 1, 2, 3 | 6 to 1 |
| Top line (European) | 0, 1, 2, 3 | 8 to 1 |
| Double street | Any six numbers from two horizontal rows (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 etc.) | 5 to 1 |
| 1st column | 1, 4, 7, 10, 13, 16, 19, 22, 25, 28, 31, 34 | 2 to 1 |
| 2nd column | 2, 5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, 23, 26, 29, 32, 35 | 2 to 1 |
| 3rd column | 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24, 27, 30, 33, 36 | 2 to 1 |
| 1st dozen | 1 through 12 | 2 to 1 |
| 2nd dozen | 13 through 24 | 2 to 1 |
| 3rd dozen | 25 through 36 | 2 to 1 |
| Odd | 1, 3, 5, …, 35 | 1 to 1 |
| Even | 2, 4, 6, …, 36 | 1 to 1 |
| Red | 32, 19, 21, 25, 34, 27, 36, 30, 23, 5, 16, 1, 14, 9, 18, 7, 12, 3 | 1 to 1 |
| Black | 15, 4, 2, 17, 6, 13, 11, 8, 10, 24, 33, 20, 31, 22, 29, 28, 35, 26 | 1 to 1 |
| 1 to 18 | 1, 2, 3, …, 18 | 1 to 1 |
| 19 to 36 | 19, 20, 21, …, 36 | 1 to 1 |
How to play Roulette if you are a new player
Start with small bets which give you the a greater chance of winning.
Even Money Bets, sometimes called Outside Bets, such as Red/Black, Odd/Even, or 1-18 & 19-36 will double your money for, if you win, while providing a nearly 50/50 chance. It is not exactly 50/50 because the green 0 or 00 will beat you every time when on Even Money Bets – that’s how the house gets its edge.
A $10 wager on a winning Even Money shot gives you a $20 return. It is important you understand losing streaks happen too, more often than you think. If you decided no matter what you are going to bet on Red and 10 black numbers come up you’d lose $100. The largest bet I have made, and lost, was $800 on an Even money bet. That hurts and I wont be doing that again.
The number one emotion you must control is greed because money is a powerful motivator and a few wins may lead to higher bets with more risk. Until you become familiar with the game you should be happy with small wins until you build y.our bank.
When should you risk more when playing Roulette
Obviously when betting more you can lose more, but the rewards are greater if you win. In my own case I wait until I’ve doubled my original bank. If I take $200 I will play easier bets until I’ve got $400 or more, then and only then will I play for higher returns.
You can stick with Even Money bets while increasing the bet amount. A $20 wager becomes $40 when you win, which can build your bank faster. The trick here is managing increases and decrease in wagers when necessary. Another option is Dozens.
Betting on Dozens pays 2:1 but covers fewer numbers than Even Money bets. A $10 wager returns $30, that is $20 plus your original bet but there is a higher chance of losing. Betting a single dozen means two other dozens, as well as zeros, can bring you a loss.
Another option is putting money on two dozens at the same time. Doing this covers more than half the table but you are still vulnerable to the dreaded zeros as well as the uncovered dozen. Your gain is still $30 but requires $20 bets, that is $10 on two dozens.
You can never determine the outcome of the game. Some will say they can predict what will happen, but they are wrong. The result of one game has no effect on the result of the next. Of course there are systems people use, I do it myself, but the best systems will eventually fail. Your best chance of making money playing Roulette is learning when to walk away and dealing with losing streaks. Ideally, get some money in your pocket and leave then come back another day.
The Law of Large Numbers
Casinos rely on the Law of Large Numbers because it governs probability over long periods of time. If you flip a coin 10 times you might expect to get an even spread of heads & tails, but in reality there might be two tails and eight heads. If you flip another 100 times you’ll find the expected 50/50 rule will emerge. That is the Law of Large Numbers in a nutshell and the casinos understand it very well. They know eventually you will lose and that provides them with profit.
You might see 35 Red results over 50 spins, but over a 1,000 spins the Red/Black ratio will likely prove to be nearly 50/50. So don’t get swept up in what you think is a winning streak.
Playing on a table with six other people you will notice not everyone wins. I’ve watched croupiers drag thousands of dollars worth of chips off the table when everyone loses. The losing bets often total more than what the winner was paid, more profit for the casino.
Never forget when playing roulette
Before venturing out and blowing all your money on bets with high returns consider the following;
- Roulette is a game of chance,
- Casinos always win in the end,
- Never bet more than you can afford to lose,
- The result of one spin has no effect on the next spin,
- Do not exceed your budget,
- Don’t be greedy,
- Predetermine when to walk away,
- Never play 000 tables,
- Know the Roulette rules & payouts,
- Never treat roulette as an income source.
My personal roulette record is pretty good and over the last seven or eight years of playing roulette I’ve only lost money twice. Both times it was a small amount. I’d take $500 to casino and I’d leave with $400 which isn’t bad. Of course during the day I’d build up to thousands, but I keep playing because my wife wont get off the slots. If it were up to me we would leave when I’ve doubled or tripled my money.
Be cautious of systems such like the Martingale. You can lose a lot of money very quickly.
Articles you should read before playing Roulette are; Roulette Wheel Secrets and Roulette Bet Types & Payouts. It is also worth taking a look at Roulette Etiquette.
Browse my Blogs for more on Roulette or return to my home page.
Good luck, have fun and enjoy your own Roulette Adventures
