Roulette Introduction

Roulette epitomizes the panache of the classiest casinos and the posh styling of a Bond adventure.

Few things are capable of this feat, in recent years Las Vegas has managed to tap into this market, creating a similar mindset around baccarat tips and the high roller Craps tables. Yet the game still remains fairly unpopular in America, the land of hardcore game-lovers. The roulette wheel is still regarded as a distinctive symbol of betting across the globe.

Roulette is far more popular in Europe than North America. The reason for this is the game is played differently in both countries. A single zero roulette wheel (often referred to as a European wheel) is used more outside of North America and offers a more lucrative house edge. For this reason, roulette has failed to attain the same degree of popularity in America, despite the fact that there are single zero wheels in the U.S as well; they are difficult to come by. One area where single zero roulette wheels flourish is online. The majority of internet casinos offer the European version, so it’s never been easier to cut the house edge of roulette in half.

The internet casinos we present offer players the opportunity to play roulette at their own pace and we also provide the do’s and don’ts of this game. It’s our aim to equip you with as much information as possible to win some great cash at playing roulette.

Let’s take a closer look at the roulette wheel. At first glance it seems simple enough. If you stare at it for a while you’ll notice the complexity of its layout. Make no mistake the modern roulette wheel is masterfully crafted. It weighs approximately a hundred pounds and it’s nearly 3 feet in diameter. European roulette wheel (L) and the American wheel (R), the numbers 1 through 36 are divided evenly among red and black “pockets”. The pocket is the container where the ball lands in. In addition to the 36 red and black pockets, there are either 1 or 2 green pockets, containing the number zero and double zero (00) on the roulette wheel.

Upon closer inspection one realises that the numbers have not been distributed in a random fashion. An attempt at order has been made, but is it relevant to the statistics? If no roll is dependent on any preceding roll, then how could the relative position of the numbers affect the balls resting position?

For every number on the wheel, directly across from it is the next highest even number. Black and red alternate, pairs of even numbers alternate with pairs of odd numbers (with 0 and 00 exceptions). This roulette wheel design is standard within the industry.

A roulette dealer (“croupier”) spins the wheel counter clockwise and releases a plastic ball along the track that runs along the top of the wheel’s cavity. As the wheel loses speed the ball is pulled down off of the track and bounces around until it settles into a pocket. There are a million small buffers and bumps to ensure that the ball is tossed around a number of times randomly before it comes to rest in a specific pocket.