Walking up to a roulette table for the first time can feel intimidating, especially when you hear dealers and experienced players throwing around terms you’ve never heard before. Whether you’re planning to play online or step into a brick-and-mortar casino, understanding roulette terminology will help you feel confident and avoid any embarrassing moments.
This comprehensive guide covers every piece of roulette slang, from the basics that every player should know to the advanced terminology that even seasoned players sometimes forget.
The Absolute Basics
Well first things first… before you ever walk up to a roulette table, you should practice playing for free. You can find a handful of options here: https://rouletteuk.co.uk/free-roulette/. Once you’ve gotten comfortable, you can start depositing small amounts. But before you do, here’s the basic terminology you should be familiar with:
American Roulette: The version with both 0 and 00, giving the house a higher edge of 5.26%. More common in the United States and some online casinos.
European Roulette: The single-zero version with a house edge of 2.70%. Generally considered the better option for players due to the lower house advantage.
French Roulette: Similar to European roulette but with additional rules like La Partage and En Prison that can further reduce the house edge on even-money bets.
Inside Bets: Wagers placed on the numbered section of the roulette layout—individual numbers or small groups of adjacent numbers.
Outside Bets: Bets placed on the larger sections around the edge of the layout, covering bigger groups like red/black, odd/even, or entire dozens.
House Edge: The mathematical advantage the casino has over players, expressed as a percentage of each bet over the long term.
The Wheel and Table Layout
Wheel: The rotating mechanism containing numbered pockets where the ball eventually lands. European wheels have 37 pockets (0-36), while American wheels have 38 (0, 00, 1-36).
Ball Track: The outer rim of the wheel where the dealer spins the ball before it drops into the numbered pockets.
Rotor: The inner part of the wheel that rotates and contains the numbered pockets.
Turret: The central hub of the wheel that holds the rotor in place.
Pocket: The individual numbered slots where the ball can land. Each pocket is colored either red, black, or green (for zeros).
Layout: The betting area on the table where players place their chips. Also called the “felt.”
Dolly: The marker the dealer places on the winning number to indicate the result of the spin.
Betting Terminology
Action: The total amount of money you’ve wagered during a gaming session.
Bankroll: The amount of money you’ve set aside specifically for gambling.
Betting Limits: The minimum and maximum amounts you can wager on different types of bets.
Call Bet: A verbal bet announced to the dealer, typically used for complex wagers like the neighbors or section bets.
Hedge Bet: A secondary wager designed to offset potential losses from your primary bet.
Hot Number: A number that has come up frequently in recent spins. This is purely statistical variance—the wheel has no memory.
Cold Number: A number that hasn’t appeared in many recent spins. Again, this doesn’t affect future probability.
Progression: A betting system where you change your bet size based on previous results, like the Martingale or Fibonacci systems.
Chip and Money Terms
Cheques: Another term for casino chips. Some casinos use this to distinguish their chips from poker chips.
Color Up: Trading in smaller denomination chips for larger ones, usually done when leaving the table.
Minimum: The smallest bet allowed on a particular type of wager.
Unit: A standard betting amount, often used when discussing betting systems. If your unit is $5, a “3-unit bet” would be $15.
Stack: A pile of chips of the same denomination.
Marker: An IOU from the casino, allowing players to borrow against their credit line.
Dealer Actions and Calls
No More Bets: The dealer’s announcement that betting is closed for the current spin.
Spin: The dealer’s action of setting the wheel and ball in motion.
Winner: The dealer’s announcement of the winning number and color.
Clear: The dealer’s action of removing losing bets from the layout.
Pay: The process of paying out winning bets.
Change Only: What dealers announce when exchanging money for chips to clarify they’re not taking a bet.
Same Bet: A player’s instruction to repeat their previous wager exactly.
Types of Inside Bets
Straight Up: A bet on a single number, paying 35:1.
Split: A bet covering two adjacent numbers, paying 17:1.
Street: A bet on three numbers in a horizontal row, paying 11:1.
Corner (or Square): A bet covering four numbers that meet at one corner, paying 8:1.
Six Line (or Double Street): A bet covering six numbers in two adjacent rows, paying 5:1.
Top Line: The infamous five-number bet (0, 00, 1, 2, 3) available only in American roulette, paying 6:1 but offering the worst odds on the table.
Types of Outside Bets
Red/Black: Betting on the color of the winning number, paying 1:1.
Odd/Even: Wagering on whether the winning number will be odd or even, paying 1:1.
High/Low: Betting on 1-18 (low) or 19-36 (high), paying 1:1.
Dozens: Betting on the first dozen (1-12), second dozen (13-24), or third dozen (25-36), paying 2:1.
Columns: Betting on one of the three vertical columns of numbers, paying 2:1.
Advanced French Betting Terms
Voisins du Zéro: “Neighbors of Zero” – a bet covering the 17 numbers closest to zero on the European wheel.
Tiers du Cylindre: “Thirds of the Wheel” – covers 12 numbers opposite zero on the wheel.
Orphelins: “Orphans” – the eight numbers not covered by Voisins or Tiers bets.
Neighbors: A bet covering a number and the two numbers on each side of it on the wheel (five numbers total).
Finals: Bets on all numbers ending in the same digit (e.g., “finals 7” covers 7, 17, and 27).
Special Rules and Situations
En Prison: A rule in French roulette where even-money bets are “imprisoned” when zero hits, giving players another chance to win rather than losing immediately.
La Partage: Another French rule where players lose only half their even-money bet when zero appears.
Surrender: The American equivalent of La Partage, though it’s rarely offered in U.S. casinos.
Maximum: The highest amount allowed on a particular bet. This can vary by bet type on the same table.
Aggregate Limit: The total amount a casino will pay out on a single spin, regardless of how many winning bets there are.
Wheel Bias and Professional Terms
Bias: A mechanical imperfection causing certain numbers to hit more frequently than probability suggests. Extremely rare in modern casinos.
Clocking: The practice of timing the wheel and ball to predict where the ball will land. Legal but very difficult.
Section Shooting: Attempting to hit specific areas of the wheel rather than individual numbers.
Dealer Signature: The theory that dealers develop consistent spinning patterns that can be exploited. Largely debunked.
Physics: Advanced techniques that attempt to predict outcomes based on the physical properties of the wheel and ball motion.
Online Roulette Terminology
RNG: Random Number Generator – the software that determines outcomes in computer-generated roulette games.
Live Dealer: Real human dealers running games via video stream from a studio or actual casino.
Auto Play: A feature allowing the software to automatically repeat your bets for a specified number of spins.
Turbo Mode: Faster-paced versions of online roulette with shorter betting windows.
Multi-Wheel: Games where you can bet on multiple roulette wheels simultaneously.
Etiquette and Social Terms
George: Slang for a good tipper. Dealers love Georges.
Stiff: A player who doesn’t tip the dealer.
Comp: Complimentary items (food, drinks, rooms) that casinos give to players based on their action.
Rating: The casino’s assessment of your average bet size and playing time, used to calculate comps.
Toke: A tip for the dealer, usually given by placing a bet for them.
Eye in the Sky: The surveillance cameras monitoring all casino action.
Betting System Terminology
Martingale: Doubling your bet after each loss, theoretically guaranteeing profit but requiring unlimited bankroll and no table limits.
Reverse Martingale: Doubling bets after wins instead of losses.
D’Alembert: Increasing bets by one unit after losses, decreasing by one unit after wins.
Fibonacci: Following the famous mathematical sequence for bet sizing.
Labouchere: A complex system using a sequence of numbers to determine bet amounts.
Flat Betting: Betting the same amount on every spin regardless of results.
Money Management Terms
Session: A single period of continuous play at the roulette table.
Win Goal: A predetermined profit target that signals when to stop playing.
Loss Limit: A set amount you’re willing to lose before walking away.
Scared Money: Playing with money you can’t afford to lose, leading to poor decision-making.
Grinding: Playing for small, consistent profits over long periods.
Going South: Secretly pocketing chips during play to protect winnings.
Probability and Statistics Terms
Expected Value: The theoretical return on a bet over the long term, accounting for probability and payouts.
Standard Deviation: A measure of how much individual results vary from the expected average.
Variance: The degree to which short-term results differ from long-term expectations.
Return to Player (RTP): The percentage of wagered money that’s returned to players over time.
Hit Frequency: How often a particular bet wins, expressed as a percentage.
Volatility: Another term for variance, describing how dramatic the swings in results can be.
Historical and Cultural Terms
Monte Carlo: The famous casino district that popularized European roulette worldwide.
Russian Roulette: A deadly game that shares only the name with casino roulette – completely unrelated.
Breaking the Bank: Winning so much that a casino runs out of chips for that table. Extremely rare but historically documented.
Charles James Fox: An 18th-century British politician whose gambling losses helped popularize roulette in England.
Understanding these terms won’t make you a better player—roulette remains a game of pure chance—but it will make you a more confident and informed one. Whether you’re chatting with dealers, reading gambling literature, or discussing strategy with other players, this vocabulary will serve you well.
The most important thing to remember is that no amount of terminology knowledge can overcome the mathematical reality of the house edge. These terms describe the mechanics and culture of the game, but they don’t change the fundamental odds. Use this knowledge to enhance your enjoyment and understanding of roulette, not to convince yourself that you’ve found a way to beat an unbeatable game.
