The Basics of Roullete

Roulette is a casino game of chance that has been offering glamour, mystery and excitement to players since the 17th century. Its simplicity of rules and seemingly random outcome make it a great choice for beginners, but it also offers a surprising level of depth to serious betters.

A Roulette wheel consists of a spinning disk with divisions that are numbered from 1 to 36 and alternately colored red and black. There is also a green division marked 0 on American tables only, which adds to the house edge and makes the game a worse proposition financially than European Roulette.

There are three different types of bets that can be placed in Roullete: inside and outside bets, as well as announced bets. Inside bets are bets that cover a specific number or group of numbers and have a higher probability of winning but lower payout odds. Outside bets cover various positional groupings of pockets and pay based on their odds.

Besides the basic bets, there are several special ones that are announced by the dealer. These bets have the same payout as other bets but come with additional advantages because they are made before the dealer clears the table. Among the most popular special bets are the basket bet, which covers 12 numbers on the wheel, and the voisins du zero bet, which is similar to the Voisins du Cylindre but covers more numbers and has lower house edges.

After a player has placed his or her bet, the dealer spins the wheel in one direction and then rolls a small ball around a tilted circular track that runs around the outer edge of the wheel. The ball stops in a pocket whose number corresponds with the color or number of the bet placed. Then the player will receive their winnings, if any, and the dealer will reset the wheel for the next round.

Aside from the aforementioned bets, there are other special ones that can be made in roulette, such as en prison and la partage, which reduce the house edge by half when they apply. This is because the dealer will keep half of all even money bets when they land on zero, and give the other half back to the players. When the en prison rule applies, this will cut the house edge down to 1.35% on the European wheel. However, the en prison rule does not apply to American roulette wheels where the house edge is significantly higher.