Average Jack doesn’t know a thing about roulette. Of course, it’s clear to him that the game is French, and that it involves a ball, a table and lots of wealthy folks around it, but that’s about all he knows about this popular casino game. And it’s OK – Average Jack doesn’t even have to know anything about this game. Until, at least, he decides to try his luck at the casino.
Roulette is present in all casinos of the world. In some places the local laws prohibit it expressly – in these jurisdictons only video roulette is available. It is almost as common as the common cold, so it’s important to know at least the basics of the game for anyone planning to visit a casino – real life or online.
First, a word about its history. Back in the day, roulette was only played in France. Later it spread to other European countries, and has crossed the Atlantic to conquer the US. As many other French games, in infiltrated the Americas through New Orleans. Back then, the wheel had a single and double zero slot – this was the traditional French layout.
Two Frenchmen invented the single-zero layout (with a slight advantage to the player) and started promoting it in Germany. As the years passed, more and more countries prohibited gambling, so the two Frenchmen moved to Monte Carlo with their single-zero wheel, establishing the best known European casino – the Casino Monte Carlo near Monaco. The single-zero wheel spread from this casino all over Europe.
Nowadays there are two versions of the roulette wheel in use: a single-zero layout (especially in Europe), and a double-zero, American layout (popular in the Americas and Macau). Both of these are available in online casino, though.
The goal of roulette is simple: the player places a bet on a single number or one of the other available options, the croupier (traditional French name for the dealer) spins the wheel, launches the ball, and the slot the ball settles in is the winner. The numbers (36 of them) are either black or red, and plus the zero (and double zero) is green. The bet placed on the number thus selected wins.
Players have quite a variety of betting options when it comes to roulette. They can place a bet on:
- a single number (pays 35 to 1)
– groups of numbers (three or four)
– lines and columns
– red or black, even or odd
– dozens of numbers (the first, second or third dozen, or 12 numbers)
– high or low numbers (the lower or higher 18 numbers on the wheel)
– the zero or double zero (pays the same as the single number bets)
The payouts are variable, between 1 and 35 to 1, depending on the bet.
That is all about roulette that Average Jack has to know to start playing the game. There are also a number of other bets available, but those we will cover later. The above are the absolute basics, the 101 of roulette – with these, and a bit of luck, Average Jack can start gambling and winning. We wish him good luck, don’t we?
