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Roulette Glossary - Basic Terms for Roulette

A brief roulette glossary guide to understanding some of the more common roulette terms that are used in the casino game of roulette.

There are a huge number of terms for the games of American roulette, European roulette and French roulette. A large number of these terms are the same and here we will provide a glossary for the most common of the terms.

American Wheel – The American roulette wheel consists of 38 slots. It has the numbers 1 through 36, a single zero and a double zero.

Ball-track – Also known as the backtrack, this is the outer rim of the roulette wheel where the ball is spun.

Biased Wheel – This is a wheel that has revealed a pattern of imperfections, such that the ball with have a higher frequency of landing on a particular section of numbers. The wheel may be slightly worn down or off level from being used for a long time.

Bottom track – The inner circle of the roulette wheel. It is a stationary and slanting track that the balls slides down before it comes to rest in one of the numbered slots.

En Prison – This is an optional rule that is allowed at certain European roulette tables. If the player places an even money bet and the ball lands on zero, they can hold their bet until the next round, instead of losing it then.

European Wheel – The European roulette wheel consists of 37 slots. It has the numbers 1 through 36, plus a single zero. It is also called a French wheel.

Even money – This is a bet that pays out at 1 to 1. It includes red or black, odd or even or high or low bets.

Surrender – An optional rule that is rarely offered. The casino takes half the player's losing bet on an even money bet if the ball lands on a 0 or 00.


Bets:

Column bet –A bet on one of the three columns of 12 numbers.

Corner bet – This is also known as a square bet as it is a bet that is placed on the four numbers that make up the square of the corner of the roulette table.

Dozen bet– This is an outside bet that bets on one of a group of 12 numbers coming up (1-12, 13-24, 25-36).

Even money bet – These bets are outside bets and they pay out 1 to 1. They are bets placed on odds or evens, reds or blacks, low numbers (1-18) or high numbers (19-36).

Line bet – This is an outside bet which is placed on two rows (six numbers) of the roulette table. The table contains 12 rows of three numbers.

Split bet – This bet is also known as a two number bet as it is a bet placed on the line between two numbers.

Straight bet – This a bet that is placed on a single number coming up.

Street bet – This is a bet that is placed on a single street (row of three numbers). It is also known as a three number bet.


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