How To Play Roulette: Rules, Steps And First Bets

Learning how to play roulette takes about five minutes: you swap money or credits for chips, set those chips on the numbers or groups you think the ball will find, and the dealer spins. If the ball stops on something you covered, you are paid at a fixed rate and keep the chip you bet; if not, the chip is taken. Everything else on this page is detail that makes those five minutes go smoothly, plus a worked round so you can see the arithmetic before you try it.

At the table

Goal
Guess where the ball will stop, from one pocket to eighteen
Round length
About a minute at a live table, seconds on a screen
Simplest first bet
Red or black, paid 1 to 1
Bigger swing
One number, paid 35 to 1
The catch
Green zero beats every outside bet
Cheapest table
Single zero, 2.70% edge, versus 5.26% with 0 and 00

How to play roulette in seven steps

Find a table and read the sign. A small placard shows the wheel type and the lowest and highest bet allowed. Pick one with a single zero if you can.
Buy in between spins. Put your cash on the felt, never in the dealer's hand, and say you want roulette chips. You get a stack in your own color, and the dealer marks what each chip is worth.
Place your chips. A chip can sit in the middle of one number, straddle the border of two, perch where four meet, or go in one of the big boxes around the edge. Spread chips over as many bets as you like.
Watch the spin. The dealer sets the wheel turning and sends the ball the other way. You can keep betting for a few more seconds.
Stop at the call. When the dealer says no more bets and passes a hand over the layout, hands off. Late chips are pushed back.
See the result. The ball settles, the dealer announces the number and its color, and puts the dolly on that square.
Get paid. Losing chips are raked in, then winners are paid next to the winning bet. Leave everything alone until the dolly is lifted.

Rather rehearse first? The free roulette simulator lets you repeat these steps with play credits until they feel automatic.

Roulette rules every table shares

Bets go down after the last round is paid and stop at the dealer's call. Nothing placed later counts.
The ball must travel in the opposite direction to the wheel. Many rule books also want at least four laps of the track; a short spin or a ball that jumps out is called a no spin and simply replayed.
A winning bet is paid at the posted rate and the original stake stays with it. A losing bet is taken.
Zero, and double zero where it exists, is green. It counts as a number for inside bets but sits outside every group printed around the grid.
Each table has a minimum and a maximum. Inside chips usually pool toward the minimum; outside boxes are judged one at a time. The details are on table limits.
Nobody touches chips while the dolly sits on the layout.

Some French tables soften the zero for even money bets. Under la partage you get half back; under en prison the chip waits a spin for a second chance.

How roulette works: what decides the number

The wheel has a spinning center, called the rotor, with numbered pockets around its edge. Above it sits a sloped bowl with a track for the ball. As the ball loses speed it falls toward the pockets, hits small metal deflectors, bounces between pocket dividers, and comes to rest. Because so many tiny bounces happen, nobody can steer the result.

Each spin starts fresh. The wheel does not remember that red came up five times, and it does not owe anybody a black. A streak of ten reds on a single zero wheel turns up about once in 1,350 tries, which sounds rare until you remember how many spins a busy table sees in a week.

The order of numbers around the rim is fixed and deliberately mixed. You can watch it on the spinning wheel tool, and the full sequence with its color pattern is on roulette numbers.

On a double zero wheel the two green pockets sit directly across from each other.

Choosing your first roulette bets

A good first bet is one you understand completely. Start wide, then try narrower bets once the payouts make sense.

If you want	Try this bet	It covers	Expect a win about	Paid
Frequent small wins	Any of the six even chance boxes	eighteen	every second spin, a bit less	1 to 1
A middle path	Any dozen or column	twelve	one spin in three, a bit less	2 to 1
A little more punch	A six line	6 numbers	one spin in six	5 to 1
Four chances on one chip	A corner	4 numbers	one spin in nine	8 to 1
The long shot	One number	1 number	once in 37 spins (38 on American)	35 to 1

Each bet has its own page in the roulette bets guide with a picture of where the chip goes.

Wider bets win more often and pay less when they do.

A worked round: 10 units on three bets

Picture a 10 unit round split three ways: red takes 5, the middle dozen (13 through 24) takes 3, and the single number 17 takes 2. Here is what happens on six different landings:

Wins are profit; the chips you bet also come back on a win
Ball lands on	Red (5)	Second dozen (3)	Number 17 (2)	Net for the round
17, black	lose 5	win 6	win 70	plus 71
14, red	win 5	win 6	lose 2	plus 9
5, red	win 5	lose 3	lose 2	0, break even
20, black	lose 5	win 6	lose 2	minus 1
31, black	lose 5	lose 3	lose 2	minus 10
0, green	lose 5	lose 3	lose 2	minus 10

Notice that most landings give a small gain or a small loss, and one rare landing gives a big jump. That is how mixed bets feel at the table. Over many rounds the average still drifts down by roughly 0.27 of a unit for every 10 units staked at a 37 pocket table.

How to play roulette at a casino without looking new

Wait for the dolly to come off before you buy in or bet.
Can't reach a number? Set the chips near the dealer between spins and say the bet clearly, for example "5 on 17".
Stack chips neatly, one bet per stack, so the dealer can read them.
Your wheel chips are worth something only at that table. Before leaving, push them to the dealer and swap them for regular casino chips. See roulette chips.
Keep drinks and phones off the felt.

Tell the dealer it is your first time. Most will happily point out where each bet goes during the quiet moment before the spin.

Beginner problems and the fix

What goes wrong	Why it happens	Fix
Your chip is pushed back	It went down after the call	Bet right after the payout, not during the spin
Your outside bet is refused	It is below the table minimum	Each outside bet needs the full minimum on its own
You were paid less than you expected	The chip sat on a line, not a number	Center chips inside the square for a single number
Red lost but the ball looked close	It landed on green	Remember zero beats all outside bets
Your stack disappears fast	Bets too big for the bankroll	Size each bet at 1 to 2 percent of what you brought

Playing online or on the free simulator

The rules do not change on a screen. Electronic games either film a real wheel or use a random number generator that regulators require to be tested. You tap a chip value, tap the layout, and press spin. The only real difference is speed: a screen can deal several hundred rounds an hour, so the house edge works on your balance faster than at a slow live table.

On this site the roulette simulator gives you a full table with 1,000 credits, the wheel spinner shows the pocket order and fast batches of spins, and the interactive table layout shows what any bet covers before you place it.

Every guide in the Play group

Once the basics click, these pages fill in the rest, grouped by what you will want to know next.

Topic	Guides
The game itself	What is roulette, Wheel numbers
Free practice	Free roulette simulator, Spin the wheel, Table layout
Game versions	European roulette, American roulette, French roulette, Triple zero roulette
The wheels up close	European wheel, American wheel
Chips and money rules	Roulette chips, Table limits
Playing in a place	Roulette in Las Vegas, California roulette

Can you play roulette and win? What really helps

No way of playing wins every time, and anyone selling one is selling a story. The edge is fixed per wheel, identical for a corner or a color, so the choices that matter are the wheel (single zero over double zero), the size of each bet against your bankroll, and when you stop. Betting systems like the Martingale only rearrange wins and losses; the roulette strategy section tests each one in units.

Before you play anywhere, set two numbers: a loss you can shrug off and a time on the clock to leave. Treat both as fixed.

Questions players ask

How do you play roulette at a casino?

Buy in at the table between spins, place your wheel chips on the layout, and keep hands off once betting is closed. After the dolly lands, the losers are scooped and the winners are counted out. Cash your wheel chips in at the same table before you leave.

What are the basic rules of roulette?

Bet before the call, one ball decides every bet, and payouts follow a fixed table from 35 to 1 down to 1 to 1. Zero is green and makes all outside bets lose. Each table sets its own minimum and maximum.

How do you play roulette for beginners?

Start with one outside bet such as red or a dozen, at the table minimum. Watch a few rounds to see how the dealer pays. Then add an inside bet or two once the payouts feel familiar.

Is there a way to play roulette and win all the time?

No. Over time every bet hands back about 97.3% of its stake at a 37 pocket table and about 94.7% at a 38 pocket table. You can win sessions, but no method makes wins certain.

What happens when the ball lands on 0?

Anything that covers the zero, such as a straight bet on it or a split with 1, collects. Every box outside the grid is swept, though French rules can soften that for the even chance boxes: half comes back, or the chip waits in jail until the next result decides it.

Can I learn roulette without spending anything?

Yes. The simulator on this site hands you 1,000 play credits, and one tap starts over. It follows the same payouts and rules as a casino table.