How To Play Roulette

Roulette Guide: How To Play

Roulette is one of the all-time classic casino games, popular at casinos around the world including Canada. Of course, it’s also widely played at Canadian online casino sites, in the form of online roulette and favoured by players for its accessibility, high rate of return, and favourable house edge to some other games.

The gameplay itself is straightforward. Players bet on an outcome to be determined by a spin of the roulette wheel – if the ball lands in a number covered by your bet, you’ll win back your stake multiplied by the payout, depending on the type of bet in play. There’s no skill to where the ball will land, and not much you can do (legally) to influence the result – so unlike games like blackjack or other casino table games, there’s no chance you can get better at roulette or improve your results.

What you can do, however, is choose more effective bets, which largely offer a trade-off between risk and reward. Go for a single number for the best odds, and you can win back at 35-1, while some of the more wide ranging bets will win you 1-1.

So what are the bets you can play? These are all indicated on a standard roulette table, so you can see at a glance the different bets available. But to truly appreciate how to play roulette, it’s worth taking a look in more detail at each of these bet types, the numbers they cover, and the level of returns you can expect for landing on any of the numbers covered.

By broadening your repertoire of bets, you not only benefit from covering more numbers, but also from diversifying the tools in your arsenal for making the most from your roulette spinning session. Let’s have a look at some some the bets you can place in our how to play roulette guide.

Inside bets

Inside bets are those that relate to the ‘inside’ numbers on a roulette table – either the single numbers, or lines between those numbers, which covers a range of possible bet types.

Straight Up

Bets are single bets, placed on a single number. Please note that it’s imperative you place your chips directly in the middle of the number on the roulette table, and not touching any of the lines around the numbered box. You can play a straight up bet on any number on the roulette wheel, including on the zero (and/or the double zero, if you’re playing American roulette. This is the most common type of roulette bet, arguably the default, and pays out at 35-1.

Split Bets

These are bets placed on any two numbers by putting chips on the lines between their positions on the roulette layout. If either of the two numbers covered comes up a winner, players are paid out at 17-1. Note that this is slightly less generous than a straight up bet, but obviously gives you the coverage of two numbers rather than one in each spin.

Street Bets

These are bets on any of the three number rows of numbers on a roulette layout – in this case, your bet is that the ball will land on any number covered by the row you’re betting on. These bets pay out at 11-1, following the same pattern as before – less generous odds, for more numbers covered. The bet is placed by putting chips on the margin of the outside line of the first number on a row.

Corner Bets

These are placed in the middle of any square of four numbers on the layout, covering each of those four bordering numbers for your bet. This pays out at 8-1, and you’ve got four chances to land a winning number on each spin.

Six Line Bets

These are placed on any two three number rows, by placing chips at the junction of the outside line – like a cross between a street bet and a split. These payout at up to 5-1, bringing six numbers into play on the table at any one time.

Outside Bets

In contrast to the inside bets, outside bets are those which are denoted around the outside of the table layout – rather than the numbers, these are separately marked on the table layout, and are often considered the ‘special’, i.e. non numerical bets.

Dozens

These are bets on any 12 numbers, broken down into their respective dozens. This pays out at 2:1, which applies to any of the dozens as well as any of the column bets. 

Odd or Even

This is a 1:1 bet, which as the name implies covers only the odd or even numbers. If an odd number comes up, and you’ve bet on odds, you’re a winner – it’s as simple as that. The same applies to High or Low and Red or Black, which both payout at 1:1 for similar simple propositions.

How The Game Unfolds

The action in roulette unfolds on a spin by spin basis. Players are invited to place their bets on the table layout (or virtually on a screen, where applicable), with bets indicated by the position and quantity of chips on the table. The croupier will then declare the game to be underway, and spin the wheel and the ball in opposing directions.

When the croupier calls the results, you’ll know whether your bet has come up a winner. From here, you’ll be paid what you’re due, and the game will begin again for another round.

By knowing how to play roulette, these bets and their respective returns, you’ll now be able to make better decisions about your preferred strategy for playing and betting on roulette.