Roulette is a French word, meaning ‘small wheel’. The two popular versions of Roulette today are the European Roulette – the original Roulette – and its US cousin, American Roulette. The American Roulette differs from European Roulette in having an additional ‘00’ on its wheel, and the use of different color chips for the game. Now, looking from a player’s perspective, in American Roulette, the house will have a higher advantage (5.26%), owing to having more numbers on the wheel, than the European Roulette where the house advantage is just 2.7%. In fact, there is one more subtle difference between the two versions of the game. While the croupier uses a ‘rake’ to gather the chips in European Roulette, in its American version, the dealer just collects it with his hands.
American Roulette is played by throwing a small round ball into the spinning roulette wheel (in the opposite direction of the spin of the roulette wheel). When the wheel comes to a halt after sometime, the roulette ball will come to rest on some numbered slots/pockets. The game is all about placing bets on certain numbers or a series of numbers on the anticipation that the ball might land on it after the spin.
Regarding bets, there are two types of bets in American Roulette: inside bets and outside bets. As the term itself indicates, inside bet is when a player bets on any of the numbers (0-36) or a small group of up to six numbers on the wheel. The different inside bets are:
- Straight up bet: The bet is placed on any number between 0 and 36.
- Split bet: The bet is placed on the line between two numbers. Here, a player has twice as much probability to win as he will win even if the ball lands in either of the two numbers.
- Street bet: The bet is placed on the ‘street’ of three numbers. This is the favorite bet amongst the players as they have thrice as many chances to win it than a straight bet, and still gets a hefty payout if they win ($8 for every $1 bet).
- Square bet: The player bets on the center of a square of four numbers. For every bet of $1, the player could win $8.
- Basket bet: The bet is placed on a row of five or six numbers. The odds are 6:1 for five numbers row and 5:1 for a row of six numbers.
Outside bets, on the other hand, is placed on colors (black or red) or on large combinations of numbers (usually 12 or 18). The outside bet is placed outside the roulette table layout. The outside bets are:
- Even money bet: Player bets on half the numbers on the roulette table. The bet is placed on one of these squares - Even, Odd, 1-18, 19-36, Red or Black.
- Dozens bet: This bet pays 2:1. The player places the chips on the boxes marked 1-12, 13-24, or 25-36. If the ball lands in ‘0’ or ‘00’, the player loses.
- Column bets: It is a 12-number bet, and pays 2:1. The bets are made on the boxes at the bottom of each vertical column.
- Line bet: It is equivalent to two Street bets, and it pays 5:1. The bet is placed on the line dividing the outside and inside area (like in Street bets), which at the same time also straddles the row above or below.
In online American roulette, the table and ball will be virtual, and the user PC, the dealer. But the effect will be nearly the same, and you, the player, will enjoy it for sure.
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