1 - The Basics of Roulette

Roulette is played with a circular wheel containing 36 grooved slots numbered from 1 to 36, half the numbers of which are black and the other half red, a tiny ball which is used in conjunction with the wheel, and a betting layout where players can place their wagers.

In addition to the 36 numbers on the roulette wheel, the American game has a 0 and 00, while the European game has but one O. The zero slots are neither red nor black as are the other numbers but are green in color.

The wheel is cut into tiny pockets, one for each number - 37 total on a European wheel and 38 on an American - so that the ball, when spun around the wheel, will eventually fall into one of these slots - that number being the winning spin.

The European game genera11y has the wheel flanked on two sides by a betting layout, so that the busy tables can accommodate players on both sides of the wheel, while the less popular American games typically Use but one layout to the side.

2 - The Dealer

The American game typically employs just one dealer who handles all of the functions at the table. He changes money into chips, spins the wheel, collects losing bets and pays off the winners. In between he finds time to stack and re-stack collected chips from the layout into neat, colorful piles, so that payoffs from the next spin will proceed smoothly and rapidly.

If a table is exceptionally busy, the dealer may have an assistant to help run the game.

European style games have one to as many as three or four croupiers, the French term for dealers, paying and collecting bets on the two adjacent layouts, and a tourneur, whose main responsibility is to spin the wheel and call the result. Often, a supervisor will be present as well.

Thus, when things get rolling and the tables crowded, one might find as many as six casino personnel manning a roulette game - a tourneur, four croupiers and a supervisor.