Roulette Glossary

Roulette has a long history and has been the subject of many myths and legends, so it’s no surprise that there are a lot of roulette terms, jargon and slang associated with the game.

If you take a look at the site, you’ll soon get to grips with it, but if you need a quick introduction to the more common jargon that you’ll come across, then have a read through our glossary of roulette slang terms.

Tip

Roulette Terms – A to Z

Action

Being in a position to bet, e.g. in the Action. Or the total amount bet over a certain period.

Agent

An agent works with the croupier to cheat the casino on an “inside job”,

All-In

When a player bets his whole pot on one bet.

American Roulette

Also known as Double Zero Roulette. A variant with 2 zero pockets, a “0” and a “00”. The house edge in American Roulette is higher than in European roulette. Click here to find out why.

Ball Track

Or Back Track. The rim on the wheel where the ball is spun.

Bankroll

Your budget for the roulette session. Set this level in stone before you play and don’t exceed it.

Biased Wheel

A wheel in a land-based casino or live roulette studio that is not balances and may have a skew to certain “hot zones”.

Black Chips

$100 chips. Players can play “Black Action” with $100 chips.

Roulette Bonus

Promotional money used by a casino to entice new players in.
For example, the Bonus From All British.

Bottom Track

The inner track of the wheel that the ball falls into as it loses its momentum, just before it hits the pockets.

Block Bet

Covering a block of numbers on the roulette betting area. Note- this does not mean that the numbers are in a block on the wheel.

Capping

Fraudulent bet where you add more chips to a winning bet after “No More Bets” has been called.

Card Roulette

Card Roulette is a variant that uses a standard pack of playing cards with 2 jokers. The house edge is between European and American roulette.

Carr

A Corner Bet on a French table.

Chase Your Losses

Bet bigger and bigger on a sequence of losses to try and recoup your losses. Not a sensible strategy for any period of time. You are better off Cutting Your Losses. The Martingale Strategy is a form of Loss Chasing. It can work in short bursts, but be careful.

Cheval

A Split Bet in French Roulette.

Chip

Roulette chips are different from normal chips. They are not marked and come in different colours and usually come in one denomination, eg $10. This is to help the croupier work out whose chips are whose. The Ohio roulette Scam made use of this practice to con casinos out of their money.

Clocking

A method of predicting where the ball will land (or zone that it will land in) based on the balls speed and trajectory. This is often done with an electronic device. This practice is banned in casinos, but that doesn’t stop players trying to employ it to gain an edeg over the casino.

Cold Numbers

Numbers that haven’t come up for at least 37 spins. Also Cold Table- where the house is winning.

Cold Wheel

A wheel and table where the players seem to be losing more than they are winning.

Colonne

A Column Bet on a French table.

Column Bet

A bet that covers almost one third of the wheel and which pays out 2-1.

Comp

When a casino gives yo something for free, like a suite or a free bonus in the case of online casinos.

Complete Bet

A bet with multiple chips surrounding an individual number, so also covering the Outside Bets including that number. It’s a hedging strategy.

Corner Bet

A bet on four numbers- your chip is placed at the corner of the numbers- this bet pays 8-1, with a 10.8% probability of winning on European Roulette. Also Carre in French roulette. Also Square Bet or Quarter Bet.

Croupier

The person who takes the bets, spins the wheel and pays out the winnings. French for dealer.

Call Bets

More exotic bets such as the Voisins Du Zero bet. So called, because you “call” them out at a casino, usually when the wheel is spinning. Mostly made up of Sector Bets.

D’Alembert System

A popular roulette startegy where you increase you bet by 1 (or multiples of) after a loss and decrease your bet by 1 after a win.

Dead Table

An open table with no players.

Derniere

The last dozen bet on a French table.

Dolly

This covers the winning number. It’s removed when all of the winning bets have been paid out and a new game begins.

Double Up System

The Martingale, where you double your bet after a loss.

Double Zero

A pocket you only get on American roulette wheels. European Roulette only has one zero pocket and a lower house edge.

Douzaine

A Dozen Bet on a French wheel

Dozens Bet

A bet, very similar to a Column Bet. There are three dozens:1 to 12, 13 to 24 and 25 to 36.

Drop

The amount deposited by a player.

En Plein

A straight up bet on one number. “In Full”

En Prison

This is one of those roulette terms that is often misunderstood. A rule in French Roulette where, when you have placed an even-money bet and the number 0 comes up, your bet rides over to the next spin In effect, you get an extra spin.

If you lose a second time, you forfeit your bet, but if you win you get your bet back (but not the winnings). This take the house edge on even money bets down to just 1.35%.

Even Money Bet

An Outside Bet (like red or black) that pays out 1:1. Plus you get your original bet back.

European Roulette

Uses a wheel with only one zero pocket. This variant can be hard to find in some casino in Las Vegas. You should always look for it in preference to American roulette if you are playing online.

Even Money Bet

Also known as a Flat Bet. Bets that pay out 1:1, e.g. red/black. Note- your odds aren’t 50/50 as there is the zero(s) to think about.

Eye-in-the Sky

The security cameras above the tables, the CCTVs.

Fibonacci System

A negative progression (increase your bets after a loss) that follows a Fibonacci Sequence, ie 1,1,2,3,5,8 or multiples thereof

Five Number Bet

A bet covering the 0, 00, 1, 2 and 3. Found only in American roulette- avoid it! The odds are terrible.

Flat Betting

Betting the same amount, every spin.

French Roulette

A variant of European Roulette which may offer La Partage or the “en prison rule“. The table layout is slightly different and the names of the sectors are in French.

Gaffed Wheel

A wheel that has been rigged by the casino.

George

A player who is a big tipper

Green Betting

Bet with $25 chips

Green Pockets

The zero and double zero slots on the roulette wheel.

Grifter

A scammer or cheater.

Grind Joint

A casino with low betting limits- more likely to be found in Downtown Las Vegas than on The Strip, for example.

Heat

Attention from the casino management if you are winning too much.

High or Low

An even money bet on all the low numbers (1-18: low) or all the high numbers (19-36).

High Roller

Someone who bets a large amount of money. Also known as a Whale.

Hold

Or the Percentage. The percentage of the Drop that the casino keeps.

Hot

On a winning streak.

Hot Numbers

Numbers that hit more frequently than they should based on probability. Also Golden Numbers.

Hot Table

A wheel and table where more people seem to be winning than losing

House Edge

One of the most useful roulette terms to understand as it will guide you in which roulette variant to play.

How much the casino expects to make, on average, on every bet, usually expressed as a percentage. Over the course of an day, the casino can run at a loss (negative house edge), but if you take an average of multiple players over an extended period of time, they would expect to see a positive House Edge or advantage.

Impair

An Odd Bet on a French table

Inside Bets

Bets made on the inside of the betting grid (as opposed to Outside Bets like red/black etc). So single number bets, corner bets etc would all count as Inside Bets.

John

A good tipper. The bathroom, WC, etc.

La Partage Rule

One of our favourite rules, most often found on French Wheels. On Even Money bets, you get half your bet back if the ball lands in the zero pocket. This rule minimises the house edge to 1.3% 9approaching blackjack).

Line Bet

A bet on six numbers, 2 lines of 3 numbers on the betting grid. Pays out 5-1, with a 16% chance of winning.

Manque

A Low Bet (1-18) on a French wheel.

Marker

The croupier uses a Marker to confirm the winning number after each spin. New bets for the next spin cannot be placed until the market has been removed.

Martingale System

A famous system where you double your bet after a losing bet to claw back into profit. Be careful with this system- can ramp up quickly.

Mini Roulette

A roulette variant mostly seen online, but also in some land based casinos. Instead of 37 pockets, you have 13 (1-12 plus the zero). Check the house edge as it is often higher than standard roulette.

Mucker

A second croupier on a roulette table during busy times. Her or she helps with chips and double checks the dealer’s maths and helps to pay out the winning bets.

Negative Progression

A system where you increase your bet after a loss. Examples include the Martingale, the Fibonacci and the Super Martingale.

Neighbours

A bet (normally from 3 numbers) centred on one number. You can increase the amount of neighbours you want to play off each number. The most fmous Neighbour’s bet is Voisins du Zero (Neighbours of Zero).

Noir

See Black Bet above

No Zero Roulette

Pretty rare – a roulette wheel with no zero and no house edge. You may find them on promotional games.

Odd

A bet on all the odd numbers. Pays 1:1.

Orphans

A bet on three numbers that are close together on the wheel but not on the table layout.

Orphelins

One of the Call bets, the orphelins are a block of adjacent numbers (on the wheel) in between the Voisins du Zero and the Tiers de Cylindre

Outside Bet

Anything that is not an Inside Bet. Slide your chips onto the outside of the betting grid in the marked zones. Example include dozens, columns and the even money bets like red/black, odd/even etc

Pair

A bet on Evens on a French variant.

Parlay or Press

To let your bet ride after a win. Leave your original bet where it is and add your winnings for the next spin.

Passe

A High Bet (19-36) on a French Wheel.

Past Posting

This is a fraudulent way of betting after the winning number has been announced. Fraudsters with a good sleight of hand may try this. It’s highly illegal.

Pinching

Removing your chips after a losing bet. The opposite of Past Posting, also illegal

Premiere

A bet on the first dozen 91-12) on a French table

Positive Progression

A system where you increase your bets after a win to accelerate profits on winning streaks.

Red Bet

An even money Outside Bet, probably the most famous bet in roulette (“stick it all on the red). Pays 1:1.

Roulette System

A methodology of laying bets at the table. Many systems claim to improve your odds in roulette. Don’t believe the hype. Systems can be a useful way of playing to a plan, but they will not lower the house edge.

Run

A streak of events, like 4 blacks in a row, or 2 of the same dozens in a row.

Sector Bet

A group of numbers within a sector of a wheel, also called a Neighbours bet.

Section Slicing

Diving the wheel into hot and cold zones. The ultimate aim of a players trying to spot biased wheels.

Single Zero Roulette

European Roulette.

Six Line Bet

A line bet on 6 numbers (inside bet).

Sixainne

A Six Line Bet in French Roulette

Split Bet

A bet on 2 numbers that sit side by side on the table.

Square or Quarter Bet

An Inside Bet on 4 numbers. Pays 8:1.

A Stack

20 chips stacked one on top of another

Straight Bet or Straight Up Bet

A Single Number Bet, pays 35:1

Street Bet

A bet numbers on the roulette betting surface is called a street. These bets pay out at 11-1 and have an 8% chance of winning. Also Trio Bet.

Surrender

Similar to en prison, where your bet rides over for another spin if the ball lands in zero when you make an even money bet, like odd/even. Played on some American Roulette wheels. Or you get half your money bet (like la Partage rule).

A Tom

A stingy tipper, one with mothballs in his wallet. Opposite to a George.

Toke – or Zuks

These are the dealer’s tips. Tokes go into the Toke box.

Competitions where you compete for a prize against other players (eg Unibet Roulette tourneys). The top positioned players on the leaderboard win a share of the pot.

Transversale

A Street Bet on a French wheel

Triple Bet, Trio Bet

See Street Bet

Wager

A bet.

Visual Wheel Tracking

One of those roulette terms for the shoe computer brigade.

Measuring the spin velocity and characteristics of a roulette wheel to get an edge. This often involves computing power.