Back
Getting to Grips with Las Vegas Roulette | LeoVegas

How to Play Roulette in Las Vegas

Roulette is as popular in Las Vegas as it is online at the live casino. Being a casino game of pure luck, anyone can win on any given spin, regardless of whether they know all of the ins, outs, and probabilities of winning the game. Even so, it’s well worth learning how to play roulette in Las Vegas as well as the best places to do so.

Table of Content:

Las Vegas Roulette Rules

As with every casino game, there are rules to the play and etiquette to adhere to at the table. Luckily, the rules are easy to remember and the table’s betting options are very straightforward.

Understanding the Roulette Table Layout

On the roulette table, you can split your options into two types: inside bets and outside bets. Inside bets can be placed on any of the numbers, be they straight, split, street, a corner bet, basket, or double street bets. You place a chip on a single number or between a selection of single numbers to make an inside bet.

Around the numbers, you’ll spot several other betting positions. These are known as the outside bets because they’re around the outside of the table. Outside bets cover more of the wheel but offer shorter odds as a result. Red or Black is always a popular one, paying 1:1, but also the Column bet, covering 12 numbers, is a big one at 2:1.

Rules and Etiquette of Playing Roulette

When playing roulette in Las Vegas – or anywhere else, for that matter – once the croupier has called an end to the betting, you can’t place any more chips on the table. When you join, hold back your chips and hands until there’s a break in the play and the betting re-opens. Once at the table, don’t put your phone or wallet on it as the roulette table is only for chips.

Roulette Variations

Online, you’ll be accustomed to a huge range of zany new roulette variants. There’s Roulette+ with all of its side bets, Mega Roulette Live with its multipliers, and the very themed K-Pop Roulette Live. In Las Vegas, you’re much more likely to find one of these three standard variations of roulette to play.

American Roulette

American roulette is the standard and most numerous version of the table game in Las Vegas. In this game, you’ll get 38 numbers to bet on from 1 to 36 as well as the zero and double zero green pockets. The house edge in this form of roulette is 5.26 percent, which is more than the other standard forms of roulette, but much less than the resurgent triple-zero format.

European Roulette

European roulette is the most player-friendly of the common formats of the game. As it only has one zero on the wheel, there’s only a one in 37 chance that none of the outside bets will win. This brings the house edge all the way down to 2.70 percent. Still, Las Vegas casinos often try to compensate for this house advantage by raising the minimum bet.

French Roulette

French roulette is a classic and standard format of roulette, but it isn’t very common, especially in Sin City. This form of roulette incorporates one or a few extra rules that are rather player-friendly. En Prison and Le Partage are rules that keep even-money bets (like Red or Black) on the table for the next spin or return half of the stake.

While some European and American roulette tables have also adopted it, the racetrack betting zone is native to French Roulette. Here, you can place wagers on segments of adjacent numbers on the roulette wheel itself, taking the form of bets like Voisins du Zero (neighbours of zero) and Orphelins (orphans).

How Much Does it Cost to Play Roulette in Las Vegas?

If you’re looking to play one spin at an American roulette table, it can cost as low as $2 or $5 to play roulette in Las Vegas. Of course, most people go in aiming to try their lucky numbers on the wheel more than once, so having a set bankroll is always the best plan.

Average Bankroll

For most casino or gambling games, the suggested average bankroll for roulette is 50 rounds. For the lowest minimum bet roulette tables, that would make for a $200 or $500 bankroll. For beginners and more casual roulette players, they say that $500 is a good average bankroll to go into a Las Vegas casino with.

Las Vegas Roulette Table Limits

At each casino in Sin City, you’ll find different roulette table limits. Some will offer lower limits or low minimum bet tables in a separate area to the standard, and high stakes or VIP areas. So, it’s worth exploring The Strip to find the ideal selection for your bankroll.

Minimum and Maximum Bets at Roulette Tables

It’s very possible to find American roulette tables in Las Vegas with a minimum bet of $2, but $5, $10, and $25 minimums are generally more common. As for the high rollers, you can find many tables that have a range from $5 up to $5,000 or even $8,000. However, at the big VIP tables, there have been reports of $250,000 bets.

Las Vegas Roulette Chips

Central to every game of roulette that you play are chips. Representing real dollars, you never place cash down as a bet at a roulette table, just the chips that you get from the table’s croupier or, sometimes, the casino cage.

How to Buy and Handle Chips at Las Vegas Casinos

The usual method of buying roulette chips at a Las Vegas casino is to go to the table place your cash down, allowing the croupier to exchange it for chips. They will count the cash and exchange it for chips. These chips will be a specific colour for your play, allowing the croupier to keep track of whose bets are whose at the table.

Note, these are considered to be non-value chips elsewhere in the same casino floor. You need to exchange them for regular casino chips, again with the croupier, when you’re done playing. These chips will be the ones you can use to bet on other games in the venue and exchange for real cash at the Cashier.

Tips for Playing Roulette in Las Vegas

To have a great time playing roulette in Las Vegas, you should always stick to the unspoken rules of table etiquette detailed above. From there, before you bet at a table, ensure that it gives you the standard payouts – particularly 35:1 for straight bets.

Many people in Las Vegas turn to the American roulette tables because they are, essentially, the Sin City way to play. However, if you can find one with betting parameters that suit you, with the standard returns on the table, European roulette offers you a much lower house edge, which is always better if you have the choice.

Where to Play Roulette in Las Vegas

On The Strip, you’ll struggle to find a big-time casino that doesn’t offer a bunch of roulette tables. You could walk into the Bellagio, Caesars Palace, Encore, Excalibur, Harrah’s, MGM Grand, Palazzo, Resorts World, Tropicana, the Venetian, or Wynn and find a world-class roulette table ready for your bets.

However, standing as the most iconic and the first of the megaresort venues, the Mirage certainly offers an iconic roulette experience where European roulette bets start at $100 and American roulette tables take bets as low as $10.

Las Vegas Roulette FAQs

Is roulette a good game to play in Vegas?

Roulette is one of the most iconic casino games around, and Las Vegas is hailed as the greatest city in America to play casino games. So, for the ultimate roulette experience, you’ll want to be placing your chips down in Las Vegas. Another major benefit is that, in most casinos, particularly with European roulette, the house edge is rather low and all outcomes are purely randomized.

How much does it cost to play roulette in Las Vegas?

It can cost as little or as much as you like to play roulette in Las Vegas. Almost all of the major casinos are open to the public and free to enter, and you can buy chips as low as $1. However, with the minimum bet usually around $5 on American roulette tables, you’re looking at playing at least $5 per round.

What is the minimum bet in roulette in Las Vegas?

As a general rule, European roulette has a rather high minimum bet of $50, but American roulette tables offer the chance to bet as little as $2 or $5. Of course, these betting parameters are due to the house edge increase that comes with playing double zero roulette.

How do you win big in Vegas roulette?

To win big in Vegas roulette, you’ll be looking to place a chip on the bet with the longest odds. That would be a Straight Bet, in which you bet on any single number. Winning this bet will return you 35:1.

Learn more about Las Vegas in our guides: