All About the Roulette Bets – Your Full Guide
Without a doubt, roulette is one of the most played games in the world. It is the most preferred game by people who have never set foot in a casino or have never gambled in any way. First-time players are allured by the abundance of possible bets, along with the high-speed gameplay and exciting uncertainty. But of course, like any other game, in order to play roulette, you have to be fully aware of the rules of the game. If you feel like you are not absolutely sure about a particular rule, then check out our article about the rules of roulette.
In the following article, we will talk about all the possible bets you can make in a game of roulette. There are two types of roulette wheels – European and American. The first one has the numbers from 0 to 36, while the second has one more added number – the double zero. The placement of the numbers in the roulette wheels are different, so some of the bets that we will describe cannot be made on an American Roulette table. Have in mind that regardless of the variation, it is a highly addictive game, so making accurate and smart bets is very important in the long run. That is why it is good for any roulette enthusiasts to give this article a read and understand all the available bets and payouts on a roulette table.
Types of Bets – Your Options
There are three main types of bets when playing roulette – inside bets, outside bets and call (announced) bets. An inside bet is a wager anywhere inside of the roulette layout, while an outside bet is a wager on a group of numbers, outside the number boxes. The inside and outside bets are the most commonly used, as they are easier to make and there isn’t a single roulette game without them.
Announced bets or call bets are special kinds of wagers in roulette. They are usually more common in land-based casinos and at the best live roulette casino sites. Basically, they help the players to place bets faster and easier. Players can make these types of bets simply by “calling” what they wish to bet on, rather than placing the chips on the table themselves. As there are some more complicated call bets, the dealer has to be fast and well-trained and place the chips on the table quickly. If you prefer to play roulette online, you can also make announced bets at most of the gambling operators that provide roulette games. Players who like to bet more complex combinations of numbers often use call bets, as it speeds up the game.
Inside Bets
Every roulette game consists of a roulette wheel and a roulette table layout. The main part of the table layout consists of the numbers from 0 to 36, each one placed in separate squares (inside). The rest of the layout contains sectors for betting on groups of numbers (outside). Inside bets are not suitable for players who want to avoid big risks, as the roulette odds of winning are reduced, even though potential profits are boosted. There are seven types of roulette inside bets and you can see them in the table below, along with odds and probabilities.
| Inside Roulette Bets | Numbers and Chip Placement | Payout | Probabilities |
|---|---|---|---|
| Straight | A bet covering only 1 number. 1 chip is placed inside the square of the number. | 35 to 1 | 2.70% |
| Split | A bet covering 2 numbers. 1 chip is placed on the shared line between 2 numbers. | 17 to 1 | 5.41% |
| Street | A bet covering 3 numbers. 1 chip is placed on the outer line, catching 3 numbers. | 11 to 1 | 8.11% |
| Corner | A bet covering 4 numbers. 1 chip is placed on the corner between 4 numbers. | 8 to 1 | 10.81% |
| Six Line | A bet covering 6 numbers. 1 chip is placed on the outer line, catching 6 numbers. | 5 to 1 | 16.22% |
| Trio | A bet covering 3 numbers. 1 chip is placed on the zero line, catching the 0 number and 2 more numbers (0, 1, 2 or 0, 2, 3) | 11 to 1 | 8.11% |
| Basket | A bet covering 4 numbers. 1 chip is placed on the outer line, catching the first 4 numbers (0, 1, 2, 3) | 8 to 1 | 10.81% |
Keep in mind that the provided probability percentages are for European (French) Roulettes. As American Roulette has one more number – the double zero, the probabilities and the house edge are different. The house edge in the game of European Roulette is 2.7%, while in American Roulette it is 5.26%. That’s why you can find the best experience for high rollers only at the top high stakes roulette online UK operators. Of course, the more numbers you bet, the greater the chance for a win, and the smaller the profit is.
Have in mind that when playing at an online casino, usually the operators pay you out the total sum of your winning bet and the won amount, so don’t get confused if you see you win £36 from a £1 straight up bet. That is your win plus your initial bet, which is given back. When playing in a land-based casino, your winning bet stays on the table layout and if you don’t take it back yourself it will be an active bet on the next spin.
Outside Bets
Outside bets are definitely the easiest to make. Those wagers combine groups of numbers and the payouts are the lowest, among all available roulette bets. Players who like to play it safe prefer the outside bets because they have much better odds of winning. The most popular roulette outside bets are also known as “even money” bets because they cover pretty much half of the numbers – red or black, odd or even, and 1-18 or 19-36. In the following table, you can check out which numbers are covered by every type of outside bet and what the payouts are.
| Roulette Outside Bets | Bet Numbers | Specifics | Payout | Probabilities |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red | 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 12, 14, 16, 18, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 30, 32, 34, 36 | A bet on all the red numbers in the roulette wheel (18 numbers). | 1:1 | 48.65% |
| Black | 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 11, 13, 15, 17, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 29, 31, 33, 35 | A bet on all the black numbers in the roulette wheel (18 numbers). | 1:1 | 48.65% |
| Odd | 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 12, 14, 16, 18, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 30, 32, 34, 36 | A bet on all the odd numbers in the roulette wheel (18 numbers). | 1:1 | 48.65% |
| Even | 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, 36 | A bet on all the even numbers in the roulette wheel (18 numbers). | 1:1 | 48.65% |
| 1 – 18 | 1 through 18 | A bet on whether the winning number would be lower than 19. | 1:1 | 48.65% |
| 19 – 36 | 19 through 36 | A bet on whether the winning number would be higher than 18. | 1:1 | 48.65% |
| Dozens | 1 through 12 13 through 24 25 through 36 |
3 separate bets, each one catching 12 consecutive numbers. | 2:1 | 32.43% |
| Columns | 1, 4, 7, 10, 13, 16, 19, 22, 25, 28, 31, 34; 2, 5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, 23, 26, 29, 32, 35; 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24, 27, 30, 33, 36 | 3 separate bets, each one catching 12 numbers in the same row. | 2:1 | 32.43% |
Outside bets are definitely more suitable for beginner players. Even though the payouts are low, the chances for a win are quite high (up to 48.65%). These kinds of bets are easy to make and understand. As you can see, the number 0 is not included as a winning number in any on the outside bets. It is the worst possible number, for players who like to make this kind of wagers. However, some land-based and online casinos have the rule to give half of your even money bet back, if the ball lands in the number 0. But when placing wagers on columns and dozens, if the only green number in the roulette comes, your bets are down.
Announced Bets – the Roulette French Bets
As we said, call bets or announced bets are traditionally bets that are called out to the dealer in a land-based casino, to save the player time from having to place multiple chips on individual numbers.
There are different types of call bets – neighbour bets, final bets, section bets and complete bets. Most of the time, you will find all of them available at both brick and mortar casinos and at online gambling providers.
Final bets are more common in land-based casinos, but there are some online casino operators that provide this kind of bet on the roulette tables. Players use this bet to wager on numbers ending with the same digit. The bet is placed by simply calling a number from 0 to 9 with the phrase “final” in front. For example, calling a bet “final 6” means that a chip will be placed on the numbers 6, 16, 26 and 36. For the numbers ending in 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, four chips are used, while for the numbers which end in 7, 8 or 9, three chips are used.
Complete bets, also known as Maximum Bets or Full Complete, are call bets combining all the possible inside bets of a specific number. The idea is to take advantage of the table’s maximum betting limit, using a progressive betting model. For example, calling a bet “17 to the maximum” or “complete 17” means that all the inside positions of the number 17 will be wagered with the maximum number of pieces. This will take a total of 40 chips:
- 1 chip on the straight up position
- 8 chips for the splits – 2 chips on each of the four splits: 17-14, 17-16, 17-18 and 17-20
- 3 chips for the street position (16-17-18)
- 16 chips for the corners – 4 chips on each of the 4 corners of the number 17
- 12 chips for the six lines – 6 chips on each of the 2 six lines covering the number 17
Neighbours bets are call bets that include a selected number and the numbers on the left and on the right of it. They are most popular with people who chase hot and cold sectors of the roulette wheel. The standard neighbours bet includes 5 numbers and is accepted in nearly every single land-based casino. Online casinos also accept this kind of wager and most of them provide the option to choose how many numbers to include in the neighbours bet (from 1 to 9 on each side). For example, calling a bet “17 and the neighbours” means that you will stake 1 chip on each of the numbers surrounding 17 in the roulette wheel (6, 34, 17, 25 and 2).
Section bets are only available when playing European (French) Roulette, where there is a single 0 on the roulette wheel. In order to place section bets in an online casino, usually, you have to use the roulette racetrack. Here are the four different section bets:
- Voisins du Zero – This is the biggest section of the roulette wheel. It contains 17 numbers next to each other on the roulette wheel on both sides of the number 0. The numbers are as follows – 22, 18, 29, 7, 28, 12, 35, 3, 26, 0, 32, 15, 19, 4, 21, 2, 25. The bet takes 9 chips, placed at several positions. Five of the chips are placed on the splits of 4-7, 12-15, 18-21, 19-22 and 32-35. Two chips are placed on the trio position 0-2-3 and the other two chips are placed on the corner position between 25-26-28-29. If you wager £9 on Voisins du Zero, you will collect a total of £18 if any of the numbers come, except for 0, 2 and 3, where you will collect a total of £24.
- Jeu Zero – Also known as Zero Spiel or Zero Game. The bet covers 7 numbers inside the Voisins du Zero section, which are located the closest to the number 0. The numbers are 12, 35, 3, 26, 0, 32 and 15. The bet takes 4 chips, placed at several positions. Three of the chips are placed on the splits of 0-3, 12-15 and 32-35. The last chip is placed on the number 26 as a straight up bet. If you wager £4 on Jeu Zero, you will collect a total of £36 if the number 26 comes or a total of £18 if any of the other numbers in the section comes.
- Le Tiers du Cylindre – Also known as Third of the wheel or simply Tiers. This is the section located opposite the number 0 in the roulette wheel. It contains 12 numbers – 27, 13, 36, 11, 30, 8, 23, 10, 5, 24, 16 and 33. The bet takes 6 chips which are placed on six splits – 5-8, 10-11, 13-16, 23-24, 27-30 and 33-36. If you wager £6 on Le Tiers du Cylindre, you will collect a total of £18 if any of the numbers in the section comes.
- Les Orphelins – This type of bet covers the two remaining sections of the wheel between the Tiers and Voisins. It contains 8 numbers. Three of them – 17, 34 and 6 are located to the right of the 0 pocket in the roulette wheel and the other five are 1, 20, 14, 31 and 9, located on the left of the 0 pocket. The bet takes 5 chips, four of which are placed on split positions – 6-9, 14-17, 17-20 and 31-34. The last chip is placed as a straight up bet on number 1. If you wager £5 on Les Orphelins, you will be paid out a total of £18 if any of the numbers in the section comes, except for 1 and 17, where you will be paid a total of £36.
How to Choose the Best Roulette Bets
Now that we have covered all roulette bets, we must help you make the right choice. The first and most important rule is always to gamble only what you can afford. If you are a new player, start slow, with small bets, and slowly increase your wagers if your gambling bankroll allows it. The best strategy for a beginner is to play outside bets. More advanced players can try their luck with the inside bets, but don’t forget that the probabilities are a lot lower. Announced bets may seem appropriate only for expert players, but actually, they can be very helpful to all kinds of roulette enthusiasts. As long as you are fully aware of the bets and know the payouts and probabilities, it’s alright to use them.
Needless to say, you can always make combinations of bets, playing both inside and outside of the roulette layout or combining call bets with other wagers. The important thing is to bet smart and don’t go all willy-nilly, putting all kinds of meaningless bets and covering the table layout with chips. You can check out our article about roulette strategies, where we give some useful tips and tricks on how to play roulette successfully.
Choose a Smart Betting Strategy and Consider a Bonus Offer
So, to recap everything that we have discussed, here are the most basic tips that you need to follow if you are a new player, who hasn’t played roulette before. Let’s not forget that the main goal of any casino is to make money off players. The game of roulette can be found in nearly every single casino establishment around the world so, obviously, it is not easy for random players to win at it.
- 1. Choose your bets wisely
- 2. Do not opt for roulette bets you do not understand
- 3. Never bet more than you can afford to lose
- 4. Try your skills on a free demo version
- 5. Consider playing with a bonus
Regardless of if you are a new roulette player, or you have played the games for some time now, an advantage of playing online is that most of the gambling operators offer some kind of roulette bonuses, which can give a boost to your bankroll and help you play with bigger bets.
Play Roulette for Real Money
Alright then, now that you understand the different bet types, it is time to choose an online gambling provider. Every single online casino, which does not concentrate on just one type of gambling (sports, slots, bingo, etc.), offers roulette tables, usually both in RNG and live-dealer modes.
The internet is filled with numerous gambling platforms, and spending many hours searching for a good and safe online operator can be quite frustrating. Most players always strive to find the best online roulette sites in the UK, yet all you have to do is find a secure platform that has the games you like to play and preferably has a lucrative welcome offer.
Another useful factor you should consider when picking a casino is its mobile compatibility. It is always better if the casino has a mobile platform or a dedicated app, so you can enjoy playing even when out and about.
Frequently Asked Questions
We think we covered everything you need to know, in order to play roulette, explaining all the possible roulette bets. Nevertheless, we have answered some of the most common questions, that new players face when playing this game for the first time.
More Roulette Guides
As mentioned throughout this article, we have more roulette-connected reviews, that can help you in your gambling endeavours. Check them out and learn some interesting stories about the game itself, the different variations available online and the history of the roulette. Get some useful tips on how to make your game session more profitable and learn multiple tricks on how to try to beat this unbeatable game.