Roulette Rules for Beginners

BetMGM Sep 06, 2026, 2:00 PM
min read
A green roulette table with red dice and green, white and blue casino chips.
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  • Beginner roulette rules concern bet availability and placement plus game procedures.
  • Basic rules also help players understand the roulette wheel and table.
  • Players’ rules knowledge helps them avoid mistakes and play responsibly.

When you’re approaching a roulette table for the first time, your enjoyment of your session will hinge upon your knowledge of roulette rules. Knowing the rules can make a huge difference between feeling lost as the game plays out and relaxing and enjoying the moment.

Whether you play roulette online or visit a physical casino, you’ll find that the basic rules of roulette are simple. This is also why roulette has earned a spot among classic casino experiences: it offers plenty of entertainment despite its simplicity.

How Do You Play Roulette?

The basics of how to play roulette couldn’t be much easier. The objective of the game is to place a winning bet that corresponds with the final resting spot of the pill (the ball) on the wheel when the wheel ceases spinning.

There are many different ways to bet on roulette, each of which represents varying levels of risk, with riskier wagers offering higher payouts. The rules for placing most roulette bets are easy to grasp.

What are the Most Common Roulette Betting Rules?

BetMGM’s ultimate roulette guide dives into the more advanced nuances, but with most roulette wagers, placing your bet is quite simple. You just place your wager, whether that’s a real or virtual stack of casino chips, on the spot that you wish to risk on the denoted spot on the table that corresponds to your wager.

For example, if you wanted to place a straight bet (a wager on which specific numbered pocket the pill will rest in on the wheel) on 13 for $10, you would put $10 worth of chips onto the 13 spot on the table. For most wagers, you have to do this before the croupier calls out “no more bets.” 

What are the Rules for Roulette Gameplay After Bets are Placed?

Regardless of where you choose to play roulette, once the croupier closes betting, they’ll start spinning the roulette wheel and drop the pill onto it. The wheel will spin for a predetermined amount of time, during which the pill will bounce from pocket to pocket.

When the wheel stops, the pill settles, and the croupier calls out the result. At that point, the croupier collects chips from losing wagers and pays out any winnings.

What are the Rules for Settling Bets in Roulette?

This can be the most exciting part of roulette for beginners if luck is on their side. If your prediction was accurate according to the announced result, the croupier will add chips to your stack corresponding to the stated payout for your wager.

Regardless of the result, you shouldn’t touch any chips on the table besides your own, and not until the croupier has finished their work. You can then either repeat the process or end your time playing roulette for that session.

Are There Rules That Help Players Understand the Roulette Table Layout?

All roulette tables include the roulette wheel and a betting grid that aligns with the pockets on the wheel, plus a few extra bet types. The exact content of that grid changes slightly, though, based on which types of roulette the table is for.

Although variations have emerged over time, the basic concept of the wheel has remained mostly unchanged since the earliest origins of the roulette wheel. The game rules dictate that there’s a numbered pocket corresponding to each number on the table, and most of the pockets alternate in colors.

Which Roulette Rules Should Players Know for Reading the Roulette Table?

On the table you’ll see a series of numbers and a collection of words in a layout that resembles a track. Understanding the significance of where those numbers and words lie on the track can help you with your money management at the roulette table.

What is the Rule for Inside Bets?

If a spot on the table is “inside” the track, it’s considered an inside bet. These normally consist of single numbers or smaller groups of numbers, like split bets, which are considered riskier wagers.

What is the Rule for Outside Bets?

Spots on the outside of the track are accordingly known as outside bets. These wagers typically cover larger groups of numbers, like evens or odds and color-based wagers, and carry less risk.

Do Game Rules Change for Different Types of Roulette?

Bettors will find variance between American and European roulette in terms of the house edge and the number of bets available. However, the basic structure of the game mostly remains the same in how to place a bet and how bets are settled.

Bettors should always check the specific rules of the online roulette or live dealer roulette game they want to try to see if there are any differences. This will help you adjust your betting plan.

What are the Rules for Responsible Gambling With Roulette?

Playing roulette responsibly is like playing any other casino game. Bettors should approach roulette as entertainment, have realistic expectations for any popular roulette strategies, and set limits for both money and time.

With experience, you can recognize the best and worst roulette bets for your individual bankroll and your risk tolerance. Roulette has options for players of all kinds.

Roulette Rules FAQ

Here are some additional questions that roulette beginners may want to ask:

How Do You Win at Roulette?

A roulette bet is considered a win when the roulette pill rests in a number or category that you wagered on when the wheel stops moving. For example, if a player bets red and the the pill is in the red pocket when the roulette wheel stops, the bet wins.

What Happens if the Ball Lands on Zero in Roulette?

Betting on the green zero is just another option that players have in most roulette games. If the roulette ball lands on a green zero, players who wagered on this number will receive a payout, while bettors who didn’t place the appropriate wager will lose their bets.

Is Roulette a Game of Luck or Skill?

There’s no way to reliably predict where the pill will land over time. Roulette is a game of pure chance.

What Is the Difference Between American and European Roulette?

American roulette adds a second green pocket to the wheel, numbered 00, bringing the total number of pockets to 38. This extra pocket means the house edge in American roulette is larger than in European roulette. The exact difference is 2.7% for European roulette and 5.26% for American roulette.

Do All Possible Betting Options in Roulette Have Corresponding Spots on the Table?

No. There’s a set of wagers known as “call bets” that players can place verbally before betting closes. These wagers are additional bets with long odds.

Roulette Rules at BetMGM

BetMGM is the best roulette casino because it offers a fun and creative mix of traditional game titles and access to valuable player bonuses. No other online casino can match BetMGM’s value or variety.

A spinning roulette wheel can deliver the excitement of anticipation, and it’s a lot easier to enjoy the moment after you register with BetMGM. Now that you know the rules, BetMGM is ready to help you deepen your roulette experience.