Find a table. Each one will carry a placard describing the minimum and maximum bets at the table. For example, it might read, "Roulette. $5 minimum inside bets, $5 minimum outside bets. $1,000 maximum outside, $100 maximum inside." Table maximums usually are lower on inside bets because of the higher payoffs offered.

• Each table will also have a board that highlights the previous numbers the ball has landed on. While you may be tempted to look at this and feel as if the odds of a number repeating are incredibly low, that's not the way it works. With each spin, the odds of each number remain the same. It's the same wheel and same ball every time.

Watch what's happening. For all intents and purposes, there can be no strategy to roulette. It's pure and simple luck. Each number has the exact same shot of popping up every time...usually.

• Sometimes, dealers have habits. They might release the ball at exactly the same angle and velocity nearly every time during a specific session. As the dealer releases the ball, the same numbers pass every time, increasing the chances that the ball ends up resting on the same portion of the wheel repeatedly.
• A wheel can go off-kilter. However, casinos are pretty good at spotting this. There's really no way to tell if a wheel is off balance unless you monitor thousands and thousands of spins.

Hand your chips to the dealer. In Europe or France, this person may be called a "croupier." In roulette, you do not play with normal casino chips. If you did, how would you know whose was whose after all the bets are placed? Each person gets a specific color to be able to differentiate between bettors. Even husbands and wives are recommended to separate.

• You can get your chips in different monetary denominations. When you hand the dealer your chips, he or she will ask what denomination you want to designate your chips. If you're at a $5 minimum table, you could make them $1 or you could make them $100 (or anywhere in between). Once you've chosen, they'll place a chip on top of the rail, with a marker on top of that to indicate your colored chips' value.^[3]
• Roulette chips have no value away from the roulette wheel. When you're ready to leave the table, place all your remaining roulette chips on the table and tell the dealer you'd like to cash out. He or she will give you normal casino chips in return.

Know the procedure of a round. After the dealer clears the table and has paid the winners, play begins for the next round. He'll pause for a bit, giving everyone time to decide on their bets. Then, he'll throw the ball onto the wheel and spin it. The dealer will announce, "No more bets!" when the ball drops from the track onto the wheel.

• Once the ball settles, the dealer placers a marker on the winning number (or winning chips, that is). Losing bets get cleared off first and then winners get paid. The process then repeats.^[3]

Place your bets. The first six bets are placed on the pockets numbered 0 to 36 on the game table. If you want to bet on column, place your bets on the empty pocket under the three columns. For the dozen, choose the pocket P12 for the first 12 numbers, M 12 for the 12 middle numbers and D 12 for the last 12 numbers. Finally, when you want to bet on the outside bets, use the red, black, even, odd, high or low pockets.

• Some players like to watch the other players, either hoping the others know something they don't or doing the opposite of their opponents' actions. You can try this, but it won't improve your odds more than coincidentally.