The Roulette table is composed of two sections, the wheel itself and the betting layout, better known as the Roulette layout. Heading the layout design is a space containing the figures 0 and 00. The main portion of the design is composed of 36 consecutively numbered rectangular spaces, colored red and black alternately, arranged in three columns of 12 spaces each, and beginning with 1 at the top and concluding with 36 at the bottom.

Located directly below the numbers are three spaces marked 2 to 1. Along one side of the columns are rectangular spaces marked 1st 12, 2nd 12 and 3rd 12. Further outside are spaces labeled 1 to 18, 19 to 36, Odd, Even, and two diamonds colored Red and Black. Each space, individually or in combination with other spaces, represents a possible wager.

The Roulette wheel, has 38 small compartments, called canoes, divided by partitions called frets. The compartments correspond to the numbered spaces on the table layout. Pairs of odd numbers are alternated with pairs of even numbers and individual spaces alternate between black and red. The two zeros are green in color and are placed at opposite ends of the wheel.

The wheel is set into motion by the Roulette dealer, called the croupier, and a small ivory ball is sent spinning in the opposite direction around the inside rim of the wheel. As the ball and the wheel begin to slow, eventually the ball comes to rest in one of the 38 canoes and represents the winning number.

False logic of the Martingale system Many people become consumed by the seemingly intuitive math behind the martingale roulette system (which can also be applied to other games) The system works as follows: on even money outside bets with a near 50-50 chance, bet once. If you lose, place a bet for twice as much on the same spot. If you lose again, double the previous amounts bet. In the end, the theory is your bet has to win at some point and if you have kept doubling down on losses, the last bet will recoup everything you've lost and add an even money win on the original wager, putting you ahead, if just a little. The logic here is riddled with problems. First of all, in roulette you can't have a pure 50-50 chance bet because of those pesky green pockets. That fact aside, the system would seem like it has some legs, from a logical point of view. What roulette system sellers don't want to you realize is, the casinos have already guarded against any Martingale users by placing table limits on the bets. Ever wonder why there is an upper table limit? Don't the casinos want you to risk large amounts of money? The Martingale system is the exact reason for a table high existing. Following the Martingale method, you keep doubling your bets on a loss, and after a short string of losses in a row your bet is extremely large. From $5, to $10, $20, $40, $80, $160, $320, $OVER the table limit. So on the last bet before you can no longer double, you are putting $320 on the table with a potential for making $5… are you crazy? And what if you lose that last bet, you're out $635 bucks, if you win you're only up $5, ouch. This is a serious flaw in applying any Martingale type system to a casino game with upper table limits. My opinion on any roulette system is the same as my opinion on all other systems. For the most part they do not do what they purport (or say) to do. Now, I'm not saying they are useless, in fact they do usually have a use, and that's to spread your money around multiple bets, which often has the beneficial effect of stretching your money out over a longer period of time. There is no value in attempting to employ a roulette system to 'beat the casino', because if you were smart enough to, the casinos would likely put you to work for them, and that has very little to do with how casinos hire. I have nothing against looking at some more serious attempts to bring the advantage towards the players. One of these techniques is the search for biased wheels. There is some merit to this endeavor. I'm sure a few people have made real money off of a biased wheel, but the effort involved is phenomenal. Casinos spend thousands upon thousands of dollars on a roulette wheel, and don't have any desire to replace it every year. Over a long period of time it's possible that the detailed engineering that went into the roulette wheel's construction has degraded from extensive use. Once this happens, a tilt in the wheel or any one of a million small but consistent anomalies may arise. If you had a computer to measure the exact spinning patterns of a roulette wheel, you could record results consistently and try to determine any patterns that repeat. If there are, you can alter your play to exploit this advantage. Biased wheels are not just hard to find, but even if you do, they are difficult to take advantage of. You would be required to have a mini-computer watching the wheel at least initially to find the bias, and modern casinos monitor their entire floor for any electronic device emitting a signal. Online is a different story of course, and many software applications exists that monitor online casino roulette wheels for biases. The problem is, the online casinos have this software too, and most likely test the heck out of their software before releasing it. You can find some of this type of software in our

Surrender

If, after viewing your original two cards and the dealer's up card, you feel that your chances of winning the hand are not good, you will have the option to "surrender" the hand. If you choose to surrender, you will automatically lose half of your original wager; the other half will be returned to you. Play of the hand will cease, and the deck will be reshuffled.

NOTE: If the dealer was dealt a Blackjack, the "surrender" option will not be available.

Double Down If, after viewing your original two cards and the dealer's up card, you feel that your chances of winning the hand are good you can choose to double the amount of your original wager. You will be dealt exactly one additional card and play will pass to the dealer.

Split

If you are dealt two cards of the same value (8-8, A-A, 10-K, etc.), you may choose to split the cards into two separate hands. An additional wager equal to your original wager will be placed next to the additional hand.

A second card will be dealt to the first of the split hands. This hand will be played out, with all the normal options available (surrender, double down, etc.) When you have finished playing the first hand, the other split hand will then be dealt a second card and played out as usual.

NOTES: Only one split is allowed per deal.
NOTES: A split-hand Blackjack will pay off at 1:1 instead of 3:2

Insurance

Whenever the dealer's up card is an ace, the insurance option will be available. When you buy insurance, you are insuring yourself against the possibility that the dealer has a blackjack. Insurance is an additional wager equal to half of your original bet.

If the dealer has a Blackjack, the insurance will pay off at 2:1. Your original bet will be lost, unless you also have a Blackjack, in which case the hand will push.

If the dealer does not have a Blackjack, you will lose the insurance wager and the hand will be played out as usual.