Roulette is a popular casino game that has provided glamour, mystery, and excitement to players since the 17th century. This renowned gambling game has many different betting options, all with their own payout odds. The key to winning is a sound strategy and knowing when to walk away.
Inside and Outside Bets
When playing roulette, you place bets on numbers on the table by placing chips on a mat that shows the number or group of numbers you want to bet on. Then, the dealer spins a wheel and drops a ball that travels through the different numbered sectors. If the ball lands on the number you bet on, you win.
The roulette wheel is a convex-shaped wooden disk with compartments that are painted alternately red and black. There are thirty-six of these compartments numbered from 1 to 36 in nonconsecutive order. On European-style wheels, there is one extra green division numbered 0 and on American-style wheels, there are two green divisions numbered 00.
There are also various special betting combinations called announced bets that you can make on the roulette wheel, though they are not common in all versions of the game. These bets include:
Corner Bets or Square Bets
There is a square on the roulette board that includes four numbers, and players can bet on which of those four numbers will come up. This bet is paid 8-1 if any of the four numbers wins.
Six Line Bets
There are six lines on the roulette board that can be bet on, and they are paid 5-1 if any of those six lines come up. The payout for a win on this bet is higher than the other three types of bets.
Neighbours
A common announced bet on the roulette wheel is ‘5 and the neighbours.’ This bet covers five numbers and also 2 neighboring pockets on each side of the bet.
Announced bets are special betting combinations that are most commonly found on French Roulette but they are also present in some online European Roulette variants. They are part of the rules, so you must know them by heart if you want to play them correctly.