American roulette – The American-style roulette wheel has 38 compartments (1-36, 0 and 00). Because of the 00, American roulette has a higher house edge than European roulette, and therefore it is better to play European roulette.
Column bet – A bet placed on one of the three columns on the roulette layout.
Corner bet – A bet on four numbers (made by placing your roulette chips at the junction of four numbers).
Double zero roulette – See American roulette.
Dozen bet – A bet placed on one of the three sets of twelve numbers marked on the roulette layout.
En prison rule – The en prison rule (or surrender rule) is offered in some European roulette games. If you have made an outside evens-money bet (such as red/black) and the ball lands on 0, you may choose to lose half of your stake or keep your bet en prison(that is, leave it in place for the next spin). By leaving it “en prison”, you lower the house edge for your next spin.
European roulette – The European-style roulette wheel has 37 compartments (numbers 1-36 and 0). Because of this, European roulette has a lower house edge than American roulette, and therefore you are more likely to win playing European roulette.
Five number bet – In American roulette, this is a bet on 0,00,1, 2 and 3 at the same time.
House edge – The house edge (also known as the casino advantage) is the profit that a casino builds in to each game. It is expressed as the difference between the true odds and the odds that the casino pays out. For example, in American roulette, you have a 1/38 chance on a single number bet. However, if you win on a £1 bet, the casino will pay out £35 (1/35 odds) plus return your original £1 stake. The difference between the true odds (38) and how much you get with the casino’s odds (36) is therefore £2. If you divide this difference (2) by the true odds (38) you have a house edge of 5.26%.
Inside bet – A bet placed on or between any of the numbered boxes on the layout.
La partage rule – This is offered in some European roulette games. It is similar to the en prison rule except that you do not have the option to leave your bet in place for the next spin. You simply lose half of your stake rather than all of it.
Martingale System – A roulette system which claims that you can win at roulette by choosing a bet with a 50-50 chance of winning (such as red or black), and doubling your bet every time you lose. The system, however, is flawed and can involve the player risking large losses for a very small profit.
Outside bet – Outside bets are either even money bets paying out at 1:1 (e.g. black/red, odd/even, high/low) or 2:1 bets (e.g. dozen or column bets).
Parlay – To parlay your bet means to leave it on the roulette table along with your new bet for the next spin.
Roulette chips – Roulette chips in casinos can only be used for playing roulette and not for any other game. In American roulette, you will generally be given a set of specifically coloured chips so that each player’s chips can be identified. In European roulette, the roulette chips are the same colour, which means that you need to remember which chips are yours.
Roulette layout – The roulette layout is the coloured and numbered grid on the roulette table on which you place your roulette chips when you make a bet.
Roulette strategy – Any methods you use in order to give yourself the best chance of ending your roulette game without suffering losses, such as setting a limit on how much you are going to spend, or avoiding certain types of bets.
Roulette system – A method of playing designed to try and help you to beat the roulette wheel and win by altering the house edge. Roulette systems are generally flawed. The most famous example of a roulette system is the Martingale System.
Roulette table – The roulette table consists of the roulette wheel and the roulette layout.
Roulette wheel – The moveable part of the roulette table. The roulette wheel is divided into alternating black and red compartments numbered 1 – 36. The numbers are not sequential. The wheel also contains a green compartment numbered 0. On American roulette wheels, there is a further green compartment directly opposite 0 numbered 00. The croupier spins the wheel clockwise, and then spins the roulette ball on the rim of the wheel in an anti-clockwise direction.
Single zero roulette – See European roulette.
Split bet – A bet on two numbers at the same time.
