Betting Party

Inside and Outside Betting in American Roulette

If you're not quite sure how to place your bets in an American Roulette game here are the different ways to do so. The elements on the table of a roulette game would help newbies remember how to place their bets.

Since different casinos have different house rules we won't be able to tackle everything. We'll only discuss the common ways a player can bet at roulette in any casino. It would be advisable to check the house rules posted on each table before betting in any roulette game.

Betting in roulette can be classified in two categories so to speak. Inside betting basically means that you are betting on the inside part of the roulette table. You basically place your bet on numbers, rows, or a group of numbers. Outside betting is the opposite of inside betting.

Let's discuss these two in detail so we can make the distinction. Let's begin with inside betting. First in line would be a straight up bet. You get to place a bet on any 1 number the zero and the double zero is included. Since there are 38 possible ways to do a straight up bet we can say that the odds that you'll win is 38:1 (38 to 1). Your payoff would be quite high at 35:1. Remember that the lower the odds, the lower the payoff.

You may also bet on 2 numbers, in roulette this is called a split bet. For instance you may want to bet on 9 and 12. To bet on these 2 numbers place your betting chips on the line intersecting the number 9 and the number 12.

A street bet is betting on 3 numbers. To do this - place your chips at the end of a row of numbers. If you would like to bet on the 6th row place your chips beside the number 18 (the last number in row 6)

To bet on 4 numbers (a corner bet) place your chip/chips in an intersection where 4 numbers meet. Example would be the corners adjoining 2, 3, 5, and 6.

A five number bet could only be done in this way: place your chips on the upper left-hand corner of the number 1. This would mean you're betting on 0, 00, 1, 2, and 3.

To bet on six numbers (a.k.a. line bet) place your chips at the end of two rows on the line intersecting them.

The next category is quite simple once you're familiar with inside betting. First would be what is called a column bet. This is done by placing a chip at the bottom of a column of numbers. You'll see them labeled as "2 to 1."

Here's how to bet on 12 numbers. You'd notice the numbers are also grouped in a series of 12's. To the left of these numbers you'd find each dozen labeled in boxes as First, Second, and Third 12. Just place your chip on any of these three to bet on all 12 numbers as designated.

You also may bet on even or odd numbers, red or black colored pockets, and low numbers (marked as "1 to 18") or high numbers (marked "19 to 36")

It may take a few games before a novice could memorize all the possible ways for him to place a bet. Nevertheless all the help you need to remember would be on the table. Just remember that if you place your bet where the odds that you might win are lower the greater would be your payoff.