Outside Bets Roulette Guide
Before you play land-based or online roulette, it’s essential to understand your many betting options. Outside betting is one of the most reliable ways to wager as it promises more favourable odds. In this guide, we’ve covered the essentials of roulette betting, paying particular attention to outside bets.
What are Roulette Outside Bets?
If you’re new to roulette, you’ll need to know the fundamentals of the game before you wager with real money. This is why we’ve started this guide by explaining how to play. If you’re familiar with the basics, you can use the link to jump to our second topic, which is an explanation of outside bets.
We’ve then continued by breaking down all of your different outside betting options, including the odds to win and table coverage for each. You’ll then learn about the value of roulette chips and how to accurately call bets, before finding out if there are any useful strategies to the game.
How to Play Roulette
Whether you’re playing at the best roulette online casinos or in person, you’ll need to make sure you pick the right table. Each table will have its own minimum and maximum bet allowances. Some styles will also have an extra 0 slot. This is called the American style and has a slightly higher house edge.
The mechanics of the game are quite simple. Players compete against the house and make bets by placing chips on a mat marked with different numbers and betting options. Once betting has closed, the croupier will call ‘No Bets’ and spin the wheel.
The croupier then releases a white ball onto the spinning wheel, where it will soon stop on a slotted black or red number or the 0. Your bets will be a prediction of where the ball will land. If you bet on a single number, your odds to win will be quite low but have large returns of 36:1.
You can also wager on several numbers at once by either making inside bets or outside bets. These combinations will have more favourable odds buts smaller returns. Outside bets have the highest odds to win in the game, so the returns will not be as high.
Outside Bet Types
Outside bets are based on a category of numbers. This is in contrast to straight-up bets or inside bets, which are wagers on specific numbers. This makes them a very attractive bet to newcomers or those playing more conservatively. There are five different types of outside bets, which we have explained in the following section.
Red/Black
One of the most common types of bets is the Red/Black bet, which is a wager on whether the ball will land on a red or a black number. This bet type has one of the most favourable odds to win. The inclusion of the 0 or 00 slot means that you have slightly less than a 50/50 chance of winning.
Red/Black bets are called an even money bet, as the return is 1:1. This means that if you bet £100 on red and the ball lands on red, you’ll win £100. The table coverage for European (single zero) is 48.6 per cent and the coverage for American (double zero) is 47.4 per cent. These are also your odds to win.
Odd/Even
The Odds/Even bet is another even money bet. This is a wager on whether the ball will land on an odd or even number. You will need to place your chips on the section of the mat marked Odd or Even to place this bet. Just like with all even money bets, you will earn a 1:1 return if you’re successful.
Furthermore, your odds to win are 48.6 per cent on European variants and 47.4 per cent on American variants. There are ten black numbers and eight red numbers that are even on the roulette wheel and ten red numbers and eight black numbers that are even. It can be helpful to know this if placing multiple bets.
High/Low
The final even money outside bet is a High/Low wager. This is a bet on whether the ball will land on a low-numbered slot or a high-numbered slot. Low numbers are those that fall within 1 to 18, and high numbers are those that fall within 19 to 36.
The table coverage is 48.6 per cent for European variants and 47.4 per cent for American variants. Keep in mind that the 0 or 00 slots will not count as even numbers. Unless you are playing French Roulette or you’ve bet on those numbers, all players will lose their bets if the ball falls on these slots.
Columns
A column bet is a wager on one of the three columns of numbers laid out on the betting mat. There are 12 numbers in each column that span the long side of the mat. You can find the numbers that are covered in each column below:
- Column 1 – Covers numbers 1, 4, 7, 10, 13, 16, 19, 22, 25, 28, 31, 34
- Column 2 – Covers numbers 2, 5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, 23, 26, 29, 32, 35
- Column 3 – Covers numbers 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24, 27, 30, 33, 36
These bets offer a 2:1 return of your bet. This means if you wager £100 on a column and any of the numbers in it lands, you will receive £200. The table coverage of these numbers is 32.4 per cent for European variants and 31.6 per cent for American variants.
Dozens
A dozens bet is similar to a column bet in that it is a wager on a group of 12 numbers. The difference is that these refer to the different segments of 12 between 1 and 36 on the betting table. Below, you’ll find the numbers contained in each of the dozen outside bets:
This bet covers a dozen numbers, too. But, in order:
- 1st 12 – Covers numbers 1 to 12
- 2nd 12 – Covers numbers 13 to 24
- 3rd 12 – Covers numbers 25 to 36
These share the same odds as columns, meaning 32.4 per cent for European and 31.6 per cent for American roulette. You will also receive a 2:1 payout on your bet if a number in your chosen dozen lands.
Bet Size Limits
All roulette tables, whether online or at a land-based casino, will have a minimum bet and maximum bet limit. When you play in person, you will need to assign a value to your roulette chips. When playing online, the values will be marked on the virtual chips. There are also different limits on different bet types.
This is because straight-up bets and inside bets have much lower odds and therefore higher payouts. When playing in person, your maximum outside bet limit may be set anywhere between £1,000 and £10,000 pounds. When playing online, the maximum is more likely to be around £10 to £5,000. It’s essential to check betting limits before you play.
Are There Any Roulette Betting Strategies?
Some players may adopt betting strategies in an attempt to recoup losses. While players may see these as logical, it’s worth noting that every spin of a roulette wheel is random and there is nothing you can do to influence the outcome. Therefore, these strategies come with their own risks of further losses.
Nevertheless, we’ve covered two common bet strategies for even money bets below.
The D’Alembert Strategy
If you intend to employ any betting strategy, begin by setting a loss limit. With this in mind, the D’Alembert strategy comes into effect once you first lose. Begin by making a bet that is a fraction of your limit, such as £1. If you lose, up the second bet by £1 value.
The idea is that if exclusively playing even money games with a roughly 50/50 win rate, you could even out your bet wins and losses. The importance here is to either recoup your losses and win or stop entirely if you hit your loss limit. That said, we always recommend against chasing losses.
The Martingale Strategy
The Martingale system is similar in that it aims to chase losses. The difference is that rather than upping your bet by the same value, you double your bet size. The idea with this too is to recoup losses, but it does require more of an investment. In our opinion, it’s not the wisest option as you could hit your loss limit sooner.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you still have questions about roulette outside betting strategies, keep reading. Below, we have provided responses to some commonly asked questions about this topic so that you don’t have to read the whole article. If you’re looking for more detailed answers, use the links in each to jump up to the relevant sections.
1️⃣ How do I play roulette?
First, you need to know what roulette outside bets are and be aware of the specific game rules. Then, assign the value of your chips and place them on the table markers that represent your bets. Betting will close and the croupier will spin the wheel until it lands on a number. Bets on the successful markers will win.
2️⃣ What are outside bets?
The identifying quality of outside bets is that they appear on the outside of the betting mat. These bets refer to categories of numbers as opposed to individual numbers and cover larger sections of the table, so the odds to win are higher. In turn, your payouts will be lower.
3️⃣ What are even money bets?
Even money bets are those that will return the same bet value if you win. This is because they represent half of the numbers on the wheel. If you bet £10, you will receive £10 if the numbers in the outside bet win. One of the most popular types of even money bets is a Red/Black bet.
4️⃣ Are there different bet size limits for outside bets?
Yes, there are different bet limits for different bet types. You can bet the highest amount with outside bets due to the fact that the potential payouts are much lower than those offered by inside bets or straight number bets. These bet size limits will differ at every land-based casino table and online casino game.
5️⃣ Are there any roulette betting strategies?
Some players may be interested in employing betting strategies in an effort to recoup potential losses. It is essential to keep in mind that these strategies will have no impact on your chances of winning, and may result in clearing your playing budget quicker than if you used no strategy.