American Roulette: The Wheel That Keeps On Turning
One wheel. One ball. Thirty-eight pockets. You see reds, blacks and greens. Are you leaving it all to luck or are you making an 'educated bet'? This is American Roulette. The word roulette is a French word that means small wheel. This maybe the meaning but there is nothing small in this game. Be it for fun or for the money, small is certainly not the right term to use when describing the effect and the lure of American roulette.
Overview. As previously mentioned, American roulette has 38 pockets or slots bearing a number from 0 to 36 and a double zero. These numbers and colors are positioned in an alternating scheme; black, red, black and even, odd, then even again. Except for the 0 and the 00, which are positioned in the green pockets. Remember, the arrangement of the numbers is neither random nor increasing in order. The digits are carefully arranged to level the playing field so that there is an equal chance that the ball will land on red, black, odd, even, high or low.
The dealer will be spinning the wheel and throw the ball in the opposite direction. When the wheel stops and the ball drops, if same landed on the digit you wagered on, then good for you---you just won in American roulette. This is essentially the game. The player bets, then hopes that the ball land on the slot he chose.
The Bet. In an American roulette, you can either opt an inside or outside bet. In an inside bet, one may prefer to put his money on a straight bet. This occurs when one places a bet on a specific number. There is a split bet when one bets that the ball drops on one of the two numbers that he handpicked. Note that the two numbers you'll have to pick must be situated next to one another. Same rule applies to a three number bet and four number bet. The only variable is the number of digits the player will bet on.
A three number bet requires one to wager on one of the 3 numbers while four number bet is for 4 numbers. Remember, the numbers must be next to each other. When you bet on five it means that the player predicted that the ball will drop on 0, 1, 2, 3 or 00. Lastly, a bet placed on the sixth line translates that the ball is going to come to a halt in one of the 6 probable digits located in any of the numbers in the two rows that are all touching.
Now, let's venture on the outside bet in American roulette. A red bet mean that you wager that the ball will drop on a red pocket. The name usually explains the bet. There is the black bet, even bet, odd bet and column bet. Then there's the low bet and high bet. The former are numbers from 1-18 while the latter 19-36. Another is a dozen bet where the table is divided into three segments. You just have to bet on one of the three sections.
This is American roulette. Care to spin?