The "Player" hand and the"Banker" hand are drawn from 8 standard 52-card decks that have beenshuffled together and placed in the "Shoe." Cards one and three go tothe "Player" hand while cards two and four make up the"Banker" hand. Each hand starts with a minimum of two cards and cannever have more than three cards. Traditionally, one of the participants at thetable deals the cards. Dealing, however, is optional and a player may choose topass the cards along to another. The winning hand is the hand that adds up to orcomes closest to a total of 9 points. Participants win even money (i.e doublethere original bet) when the "Player" hand wins. Those who bet the"Bank" win even money, as well. However, there is a 5% commissioncharged on winning "Banker" bets. The "Bank" has a slightadvantage in the way that the cards are drawn, therefore, this commission ischarged. Players can also bet on a "Tie" game that generally pays out8:1.

Roulette is somewhat unique amongst modern table games in that it employs a mechanical device as the key element of the game. This is the large and very distinct Roulette wheel, which is mounted horizontally on one end of the table. The hollow of the wheel has numbered pockets ranging from zero to thirty-six. Wagers in Roulette are placed on an area of the table marked with a pattern of boxes and numbers. This is called the game layout. You may place wagers on any particular number, any 4 adjacent numbers, a column or a 'dozens' bet. The wheel is used to determine the outcome of a game of Roulette. Once the bets have been placed the wheel is set spinning and a small (usually metal or ivory) ball is spun onto the wheel in the opposite direction to that of the spinning wheel. The ball will rapidly loose speed and eventually stop in one of the pockets. The number of the pocket is the winning number. Objective The game of Roulette is played by spinning a small ball around a wheel that contains thirty-seven numbered slots. When the wheel stops, the ball comes to rest in one of these slots. The object of Roulette is to correctly predict the slot in which the ball will land. By predicting the right number, you earn a payoff on your bet. The size of the payoff depends on how the bet was placed. Playing the Game There are two basic steps to follow to play a game of Roulette. First you must decide on which numbers or groups of numbers to bet on. You can do this by moving the mouse over the table felt and left clicking to deposit chips on the table. Right clicking will remove chips. You can place chips on individual numbers or on the borders shared by two or four numbers. Once you have decided upon your bet press the Spin button to start the game. The roulette wheel will spin and the ball will be placed on the wheel. It will soon come to rest in one of the numbered pockets on the wheel. If the number falls with in the range of any one of your bets then you have won. Refer to the Table Limits and Odds section to find out more about how much each kind of bet is worth.

Requesting a card or a hit on 17 or above will do two things: it will mark you as a rank amateur and will make other players abandon your table. There are only four cards to improve your hand with a 17, three with an 18, 2 with a 19 and one with a 20. The odds are stacked against you in every case. With 17 as the player's key point, 6 is the corresponding cutoff card for thedealer's exposed card in determining how you play it, with the deuce or 2 beingthe exception to the rule (refer to "The Terror of the Twos") It is importantto remember: everything is relative to the one card the dealer is showing. Ifthe dealer's exposed card is 3-6, the player has a better chance of winning thanif the dealer is showing a 2, 9, 10 (or face card) or ace. Seven and eight fallin the middle.Generally accepted blackjack theory notes that 18.3 represents the calculatedaverage hand needed to win. In other words, a hand with less than a 19 total(you can't get fractions in blackjack), is potentially a losing hand. If thedealer is showing a 7, 8, 9, or 10-value card, you will need to hit if you haveless than a 17.With a total of 17, you are stuck-you can't take a hit, but your chances aren'tgood. The math of the game says you can't take a card to improve your hand, butthe best you can do is hope the dealer has a 5-10 if he/she is showing a seven.With a 10, you tie, or "push." You don't win, but you don't lose. 5-9 makes thedealer hit once more. If the dealer has an 8, 9, or 10-value card exposed, youhave to hope that there is a 4, 5,6, or 7 in the hole. That will make the dealerneed to take a third card as well and this might put his/her hand over the totalof 21, with a busted hand. As there are more 10-value cards than any other, thechances here are not as bad.When you receive a hard 17, 18, 19, or 20, there is nothing to do except sitback and hope that the dealer's hand isn't as good as yours. You merely indicateto the dealer that you don't want a card and want to stand. Obviously, with a21 or blackjack, there's no need to try to improve your position.