Roulette Terms – Complete Guide to Roulette Terminology

Playing roulette online games can be a confusing thing, especially if you are a new player. It is like people starting to talk a different language near the roulette table.

All kinds of “weird” terms are being used, and if you don’t know the meaning of roulette game terms, you won’t be able to understand what is going on.

Well, there is no need to walk with a roulette glossary: You can easily learn roulette terminology and become a veteran player, just like the others.

And in this guide for terms in roulette, we are going to do exactly this: After reading our roulette terms article or alternative roulette, you will be able to understand this interesting lingo and start using it yourself too.

Let’s start, we have lots of gambling terms roulette to list!

Some of the terms for roulette are pretty basic, but they can still sound weird. You should start by learning the following terminology:

• Roulette: Yes, even the name of the game is a roulette term. It is a French word, means “small wheel”.
• American Roulette: Traditionally, the “0” section on the roulette table and wheel belongs to the casino itself. So if the ball stops at this section, nobody wins (except the casino of course). Now, the American roulette table contains two sections that belong to the casino: 0 and 00 and this is the main difference between American and European roulette. This is the specific feature of this variant and as a result, the roulette wheel and payout are at lower odds. This is because giving two sections to the casino increases the house edge (and decreases your winning odds). If the wheel contains two zeros (and 38 numbers in total), you are playing American roulette. Still, if you want to know how to play American Roulette you can check our 2023 updated guide.
• European Roulette: European roulette wheel (including the free European roulette one) contains only one zero, and as a result, offers a lower house edge. European roulette players are luckier because their chance of winning is higher than American roulette. The European roulette rules are mainly the same as the French roulette rules. If the roulette table layout and the wheel contain only one zero (and 37 numbers in total), you are playing European roulette.
• French Roulette: There are two types of the roulette wheel, which we listed above. French roulette uses the wheel of European roulette but offers additional betting options. As a result, it offers the lowest house edge – nearly as low as video poker. We will explain these additional betting options below, in the advanced roulette terms section.
• Triple Zero Roulette: Just as the name suggests this version of roulette has another additional pocket, the ‘000’. It comes with a disadvantage for the player: the house edge is increased even more, to 7,69%.
• Mini Roulette: Mini roulette games are designed for mobile devices, so the mini roulette is essentially a mobile roulette. They are not American, European, or French. These are casual games that have their own ruleset and betting options. In this regard, mini roulette games can be a category of their own. Know that they will always offer higher house edge rates than the three main variants listed above, so you should play them just for fun.
• House Edge: A value that shows how much money the casino will win from your bets. It is always shown with a percentage. For example, if this value is 5%, the casino will win 5 EUR for every 100 EUR bet you make. Roulette players should look for the lowest house edge rates. To give you an idea, here is a list: American roulette house edge is 5.26%. This rate is 2.70% for European roulette. And France roulette offers a house edge of 1.35%. In short, French roulette is the best variant you can play.
• Backtrack: Roulette wheels have a rim on the outside, this is where the ball gets spun. Backtrack is a roulette term for that.
• Bottom Track: The inside area of the roulette wheel. This section contains the numbers.
• Bankroll: The roulette term for the player’s gambling budget.
• Chips: This is a literal roulette term. Chips are the currency of the roulette table. They come in different colors and these colors represent the value of the chip. You do not put “real money” on the table, you put these chips to place your roulette wagers. Traditionally, red is the color with the lowest value. Green is usually worth 20 EUR. And black chips are the most valuable ones – the roulette term black bet (check here how to always bet on black in roulette), for example, means that all the chips on the table are black.
• Cold Table: This term is not about the layout of the roulette table. It means all of the players who played on that table have lost, and nobody scored a winning for a long time. So, the table is “cold”. Some players believe that a cold table will offer increased winning chances – after all, it can stay as cold infinitely. This belief has no basis, of course.
• Croupier: The casino worker that controls the roulette table. He accepts bets, spins the wheel, and handles the payouts. Online roulette games have no croupier, for obvious reasons. They can be seen only in brick-and-mortar casinos.
• No More Bets: If a croupier says this line, it means the wheel started to spin and you cannot place a bet now. If you still try to do that, it will be void.
• No Action: If a croupier says this line after the wheel starts to spin, all bets are canceled and returned to players. This can happen if/when the ball drops out the wheel or the croupier suspects foul play.

These are the most common terms that can be seen in all traditional roulette games. However, they are also just the beginning: The betting terms of roulette deserve a section of their own. In fact, some of the key roulette terms are about betting options. Here they are:

• Inside Bets: This is one of the roulette table terms. When you take a look at the roulette layout, you will see that some numbers are located on the “inside”. This is the origin of this roulette term. Straight, split, street, corner, basket, and line bets are roulette inside bets. Traditionally, these bets offer the highest payouts but the lowest odds.
• Outside Bets: The opposite of inside bets. So, these are the options that are located on the “outside” section of the table. Red/black, odd/even, low/high, column and dozen are outside bets. They offer very high odds but low payouts.
• Straight Up Bet: Betting on a single number. The probability of this bet is 0.27%.
• Split Bet: Betting on two numbers next to each other. The probability of this bet is 0.54%.
• Street Bet: Betting on three numbers, but all of them must be located on the same line. The probability of the roulette street bet is 0.81%.
• Corner Bet: Betting on four numbers but they must be forming a square on the table. The probability of this bet is 10.81%.
• Basket Bet: This is one of the American roulette terms. It is a special betting option that can be seen only in this variant. It means betting on these five numbers: 0, 00, 1, 2, and 3. The probability of this bet is 13.16%. It is also known as the “five number bet”. It is not a good American roulette strategy to bet on the basket bet.
• Line Bet: Betting on six numbers in total, but they must be located on two lines next to each other. The probability of this bet is 16.21%.
• Column Bet: Betting on 12 numbers on a single column. The probability of this bet is 32.43%.
• Dozen Bet: Betting on all numbers between these ranges: 1-12, 13-24 or 25-36. The probability of this bet is 32.43%. Apply the best roulette dozens strategy to win more in the long run.
• Red/Black Bet: Betting on whether the outcome will be red or black (you don’t bet on a specific number, just the color). The probability of this bet is 48.64%. Learn more here on how to win at roulette red and black.
• Odd/Even Bet: Betting on whether the outcome will be an odd or even number. Again, no specific number. The probability of this bet is 48.64%.
• Low/High Bet: If you bet on all numbers between 1-18 or 19-36, this is a low/high bet. The probability of this bet is 48.64%.
• Golden Numbers: A roulette term for defining the numbers that appear the most. Such a thing does not exist – it is gambler’s fallacy. All numbers on the wheel have the same chance of appearing, no matter the type of roulette. There are no “magical” numbers.
• Even Money Bets: The roulette term for bets that pay 1:1. Red/black, odd/even, and low/high are even money bets. They offer the highest probability but the lowest payout.

The roulette terminology starts to change when it comes to variants of this game. Roulette has lots of variants, and both the odds and betting options differ according to the game you are playing. In this regard, the French variant has the most interesting lingo – let’s start with French roulette terms. Once again, this is the roulette game we recommend you to play, due to lower house edge percentages and betting rules that favor the player.

• Carre: The French roulette term for corner bets.
• Cheval: The French roulette term for split bets.
• Colonne: The French roulette term for column bets.
• En Plein: The French roulette term for straight bets.
• En Prison: This is a specific betting rule that can only be seen in this variant. If the ball lands on an even money bet, players get half of their initial wagers back. For this reason, the house edge percentage of French variant is very low.
• La Partage: Same thing as En Prison, but this time it is effective on outside bets. If a player used the En Prison option, he/she cannot use La Partage.
• Orphans: Numbers 6, 17, and 34. They are called orphans because they are placed on far from each other but corresponding locations on the wheel.
• Parlay: This means increasing the wager amount after a successful win. It is not about roulette maximum bets; it is about doubling your initial wager. You can still parlay even if you are playing with the minimum bet amount.
• Transversale: The French roulette term for street bets.
• Voisins du Zero: Numbers that are located on both sides of the 0. This roulette term literally means “neighbors of the zero”.
• Sixainne: The French roulette term for line bets.

And there are also “systems and strategies” in the roulette betting glossary too. These are:

• Martingale Strategy: This is the mother of all progressive betting strategies. It has lots of variants such as D’alembert and Labouchere. The Martingale strategy requires two things: First, always place money on outside bets. Second, double the wager after every loss, until you win. So, if you start playing with 5 units, for example, and lose, your next bet should be 10 units. If you keep losing, you will keep doubling the amount:  20 units, 40 units, 80 units, and so on. This strategy relies on the fact that you will win sooner or later, and when you win, the wager will be high enough to cover all your losses. If you have a big budget, this strategy may work. But if you are on a limited budget, you may go bankrupt before a winning happens. It is also applicable for Pinball roulette.
• James Bond Strategy: This is an interesting system that tries to cover more than half of the options on the roulette wheel. You place a bet for 13-18, 19-36, and 0 at the same time, so you cover 25 numbers in total. Statistically, this gives you an advantage. However, there are still numbers you did not cover, and two of your bets will lose in any case. In the long run, this strategy causes you to lose money, unfortunately.

Well, now you are ready to play like a pro at roulette tables and speak the same language as others. This top roulette glossary contains all the terms you need to know – it is time to start using them.

We recommend finding live dealer games in order to use these roulette terms: Such games are played against a real dealer from the comfort of your home, and you can use all the roulette terminology with ease.

And if you need help on finding the best live roulette casinos, we can still help you: Just take a look at our recommended Bitcoin roulette casinos and pick anyone you want. Good luck at the tables and put these roulette terms to good use! You can also find out more on the best way to bet on the highest number on roulette wheel in this guide.