How do you play roulette for beginners?

Pick a single-zero table, choose a chip value, place chips on a number, a group of numbers or an outside box such as red, and wait for the spin. If the ball lands on a number your bet covers, you are paid at the odds printed for that bet.

What is the difference between inside and outside bets?

Inside bets sit on the numbered grid and cover one to six numbers; they pay 35:1 down to 5:1. Outside bets sit around the grid and cover 12 or 18 numbers; they pay 2:1 or 1:1. Zero loses every outside bet.

What happens when the ball lands on zero?

Every bet that does not include zero loses. At French tables, even-money bets lose only half (la partage) or stay for the next spin (en prison).

What are neighbour bets and call bets?

Bets on sections of the wheel rather than the layout: Voisins du Zéro, Tiers du Cylindre, Orphelins and neighbours of a number. Online tables have a racetrack panel that places the chips for you.

By: The CryptoRouletteCasinos desk
Desk: Roulette maths and casino terms
Updated: 18 September 2026

How to play roulette: the layout, the bets and a round from start to finish

The game

Roulette takes a minute to learn and has more bet types than most players ever use. This page walks through the wheel, the layout, every standard bet and one round at an online crypto table, click by click.

How to play roulette is quick to learn: you bet on where a ball will stop on a spinning wheel. What takes longer is knowing which bet does what, and what a table's rules do to your money. This guide goes from the wheel to a full round at an online table, the way you would play it at a crypto casino.

The wheel

A European wheel has 37 pockets: the numbers 1 to 36, alternating red and black, and one green zero. The numbers are not in order around the wheel; they are spread so that high and low, odd and even, red and black alternate as evenly as possible. An American wheel adds a second green pocket, 00, for 38 in total. That one extra pocket nearly doubles the house edge, from 2.70% to 5.26%, so at a crypto casino choose European or French roulette whenever you can.

A single-zero wheel with 37 pockets beside a double-zero wheel with 38 — The one difference that matters: the single-zero wheel has 37 pockets and a house edge of 2.70%; the double-zero wheel adds 00, has 38 pockets and takes 5.26%, almost twice as much, on the same bets.

The layout

The betting layout is a grid of the numbers in three columns of twelve, with 0 (and 00 on American tables) at the top. Around the grid are the outside boxes: the three dozens, the three columns, and the six even-money boxes (1–18, even, red, black, odd, 19–36). Where you put a chip decides what it covers.

Inside bets

Straight up: one number. Pays 35:1.
Split: two neighbouring numbers on the grid, chip on the line between them. Pays 17:1.
Street: a row of three, chip at the end of the row. Pays 11:1.
Corner: four numbers meeting at a point. Pays 8:1.
Six line: two rows, six numbers. Pays 5:1.

On most online tables zero can be part of a split, street or corner with 1, 2 and 3. On American tables the five-number bet (0, 00, 1, 2, 3) pays 6:1 and carries the worst edge on the table, 7.89%.

Outside bets

Dozen: 1–12, 13–24 or 25–36. Pays 2:1.
Column: one of the three vertical columns. Pays 2:1.
Even money: red or black, odd or even, 1–18 or 19–36. Pays 1:1.

Zero, and 00 where it exists, belongs to none of the outside bets. That is where the house edge on those bets comes from. The full chart of odds for each bet is on roulette odds and payouts.

Roulette payouts from 35:1 to 1:1 with the chance of each bet on a single-zero wheel — Each bar is one bet type, from a single number (35:1, 1 in 37) to red or black (1:1, 18 in 37). Longer bars win more often and pay less; on every one of them the house keeps the same 2.70%.

Call bets and the racetrack

French tables and most live tables have an oval “racetrack” beside the layout, showing the numbers in wheel order. It is used for bets on sections of the wheel:

Voisins du Zéro: the 17 numbers around zero, placed with 9 chips.
Tiers du Cylindre: the 12 numbers opposite zero, 6 chips.
Orphelins: the remaining 8 numbers, 5 chips.
Neighbours: a number and the two on each side of it on the wheel, 5 chips.

These bets are just groups of splits, streets and straight-ups. They cost the same 2.70% as any other bet; they only save clicks.

One round at an online table

Open the table from the casino's live or table-games lobby. Check the name: “European”, “French” or “Lightning” means single zero; “American” means double zero.
Read the limits in the info panel: minimum and maximum per bet type, in the casino's display currency.
Pick a chip value from the chip tray at the bottom.
Place chips by clicking the layout. Most tables have “undo”, “double” and “repeat” buttons.
Wait for “no more bets”. At a live table the dealer closes betting just before the ball drops; at a software table you press spin.
See the result. Winning bets are paid automatically into your balance; losing chips are taken.

Our home page shows this as a demo: 10 USDT on 19, the ball lands on 19, 350 USDT won. At the odds on a single-zero wheel, that happens about once in 37 spins.

Rules to check before you play

Zero rules. La partage or en prison halve the edge on even-money bets to 1.35%. They are only on French tables.
Table type. Lightning, Double Ball and other variants change the payouts. Read the info panel.
Speed. Software and Speed tables run many more spins an hour. The same edge on more bets costs more per hour.
Bonus terms. If you play with a bonus, roulette may count only a fraction, or nothing, towards wagering. See roulette and casino bonuses.

Where to take the first seat

If you are new, a software table is the calmest place to learn the layout, and a provably fair one lets you check each spin afterwards; see provably fair roulette. When you want a dealer and a real wheel, go to live roulette with crypto. The casinos we rank are on our list of crypto roulette casinos, and before you raise your stakes, read roulette strategy.