Roulette Bets
Much of the interest in Roulette derives from the the number of different
bets that can be made and 🔔 their associated odds. The basic bets are the same for all
forms of modern Roulette. Below are a list of 🔔 all the available bets categorised by the
bet's associated odds (both the English and French terms are listed):
Red / Rouge: 🔔 a
red number
Black / Noir: a black number
Even / Pair: an even number
Odd / Impair: an
odd number
Low bet / 🔔 Manque: numbers 1 - 18 (Manque is French for "failed" and is used
because the ball has failed to pass 🔔 18)
High bet / Passe: numbers 19 - 36 (Passe is so
named because it has "passed" the centrepoint)
First dozen / 🔔 Premiere douzaine: numbers
1 - 12 (On the French-style mat, the square marked 12P)
Middle dozen / Moyenne
douzaine: numbers 13 🔔 - 24 (On the French-style mat, the square marked 12M)
Last dozen /
Dernier douzaine: numbers 25 - 36 (On the 🔔 French-style mat, the square marked
12D)
Column bet / Colonne: a column of 12 numbers (The special square at the end 🔔 of one
of the three columns of twelve numbers)
5 to 1 - Line bet / Sixain: 6 numbers (Place
the 🔔 stake on the intersection of the edge of two rows of three numbers to bet on those
2 rows)
8 to 🔔 1 - Corner bet / Carre: 4 numbers (Place the stake at the intersection of
a square of four numbers)
11 🔔 to 1 - Street bet / Carre simple or Transversale: a row of
3 numbers (Half way over the line 🔔 forming the end of the row of three numbers to be bet
upon)
17 to 1: Split bet / En Chaval: 🔔 a pair of numbers (Place the stake across the
line dividing the two numbers to be bet upon
35 to 1: 🔔 Straight up / En plein: a single
number (Place the stake in the box showing the number concerned. It is 🔔 allowable to bet
on zero)
The bets on six numbers or less are termed "Inside bets". The bets on 12
numbers 🔔 or more are called "Outside bets".
European Roulette Rules
Assuming that the
possible bets are all understood, Roulette is essentially a trivially 🔔 simple game to
play. For each turn, once all bets have been placed using coloured chips to distinguish
each player, 🔔 the croupier halts betting, spins the wheel, and rolls the ball in the
opposite direction. When the ball comes to 🔔 a halt in one of the slots, the croupier
announces the result, collects all losing bets and pays out the 🔔 winner's profits. There
are additional optional rules that some casinos and houses play. Both the La Partage
and the En 🔔 Prison roulette rules effectively halve the casino edge on even-money bets.
If playing at home, decide at the start which, 🔔 if any of the following rules you would
like to play.
'En Prison' Rule
This is a roulette rule that can be 🔔 applied to
even-money bets only. When a zero turns up, the player has two options:
Reclaim half
the bet and lose 🔔 the other half.
Leave the bet (en prison = in prison) for the next
spin of the roulette wheel for an 🔔 all or nothing gamble. If the subsequent spin is
again zero, or does not match the imprisoned bet, then the 🔔 whole bet is lost.
Otherwise, if the subsequent spin's outcome matches the bet, the player's money is
returned.
'La Partage' Rule
The 🔔 la partage roulette rule is similar to the en prison
rule, only in this case the player has no option 🔔 when a zero turns up and simply loses
half the bet.
Maximum and Minimum stakes
Casinos will normally post a maximum and 🔔 a
minimum stake for a roulette table and this is sometimes done for recreational play,
too. Typically, for each spin 🔔 of the wheel, if a player the total amount of a player's
inside bets must exceed the minimum stake. The 🔔 listed maximum stake usually shows only
the maximum allowed for a single number "straight up" bet. The maximum stakes for 🔔 other
types of bet increases proportionately e.g. The maximum bet allowed for a pair of
numbers is double the maximum 🔔 straight-up bet, the maximum allowed for a corner bet is
4 times the straight up maximum and so on. So 🔔 that really the limitation is on the
amount that the casino can lose!
North American Roulette Rules
In North America and the
🔔 Caribbean, roulette wheels have a double zero, and all bets (except a direct bet on the
selected zero) are lost 🔔 when either zero turns up. The result is significantly poorer
odds for the punter and an increase in the Casino's 🔔 cut. This is probably why in this
region, Roulette is less popular than it is in other parts of the 🔔 world. The rules are
the same as for European Roulette above except that the double zero works in the same
🔔 way as a single zero result. Some American casinos do allow an additional bet called a
"basket bet" which is 🔔 staked by placing chips in the same way as for a line bet on the
outside of the the dividing 🔔 line between the zero row and the row featuring 1, 2 and 3.
This bet normally pays out 6 to 🔔 1 which gives it odds worse than any other roulette
bet.
The old original Roulette Game
In the original French roulette, the 🔔 numbers 1 -
36, had the zero and the "double zero". The zero was coloured red and also counted as
🔔 "Pair" and "Manque"; the double zero was black and also counted as "Impair" and
"Passe". If the ball fell into 🔔 one of the two zero divisions, all lost stakes are taken
by the bank but if the bet was matched 🔔 by virtue of being Pair, Impair, Rouge, Noir,
Passe or Manque, instead of being won, the stake was imprisoned until 🔔 the next spin of
the wheel. On that subsequent turn, the stake was either lost or if the ball matched
🔔 the bet again, the stake was merely returned to the gambler without any profit.
