Roulette has been glamourised in countless movies such as James Bond. Its upmarket status probably originates from its early days when Prince Charles (ruler of Monaco at the time) introduced gambling to Monacco. It quickly gained popularity amongst the social elite. Its glamourous image has persisted.

Well, there is nothing magical about roulette. It is a fixed odds game based on simple mathematics where there is a clear house edge (i.e. the odds are in the casino's favour). The house edge is simple to calculate - in European Roulette with one zero, it is 1/37 or in other words 2.7%. So for every $100 wagered, you should expect to lose $2.7 dollars over time. The odds are a lot worse at American Roulette with two zeros and the house edge is over 5%. Certain casinos offer even better odds as they give back 50% on any even bet (i.e. red, black, odd, even, high 19-36 or low 1-18) when the ball lands in 0. It is a fixed odds form of gambling, which means that there is no (legal) system in the world that can guarantee a winning outcome. The roulette odds can be found in the ROULETTE ODDS section.

Still, books and Internet websites spout nonsense about various systems that tend to be a variation on the well-known Martingale system. This is the hare-brained idea that if you lose one bet you simply double up the bet until you win. This would be fine if you enjoy wagering over a thousand dollars to chase a $1 win anytime you lose ten times in a row. Systems like this require you to risk your entire worldly fortune to chase a $1 win. Casinos will gladly make these bets with you till doomsday. Why not just bet on a coin flip where you pay $20 when you lose, but get $18 when you win? Casinos will be glad to do this as many times as possible, and also be glad to let you bet very large amounts. If you make an even money bet when you only have 18 ways to win and 20 ways to lose, you will lose over time. God invented math so we could understand this.

It is possible to win at roulette and many STORIES abound about big winners. There are three ways of winning at roulette:

1. LUCK - always a possibility to have short term luck

2. BIASED WHEEL WATCHING - finding a wheel that is not 100% horizontal which will favour a certain section of the wheel

3. COMPUTER AIDED PREDICTION - using a computer to predict the outcome based on speed of ball and position on the wheel

Biased wheels are becoming extremely rare although they do still exist. It is just finding them and having the patience of identifying them. Using a computer is legal but illegal under the house casino rules.

Roulette can be a social game as it allows more than one player. If you play roulette merely as a leisure time (and not trying to win serious money to pay off your debts) it can be a fun way of spending your time as you can meet people from all walks of live from all corners of the world. And of course, there is always the possibility of striking it lucky. Roulette allows some of the smallest bets in casinos, and you can win just under half the time, so it is a fairly painless time killer, but it is all a losing gamble.

REMEMBER, none of the systems apart from Luck will work on Internet Roulette as the payout is based upon a percentage. Some of the highest payout percentages are listed in the ROULETTE SITES section. All fixed odds gambling over the Internet are losing gambles unless you hit it lucky - a bit like playing slots whereby if you play at the right time and the online casino is ready to make a big payout, it is possible to win big. But in order for one person to win, there must be a lot, lot more losers!

If you insist on playing roulette, whether it be at a real table or over the Internet, the advice is to set a limit on how much you can "afford" to lose and walk away if you lose the stake. Leave the credit card at home. If you play over the Internet ... just make sure that you have the self control not to chase after losses.