22 Useful Roulette Terms Beginners Should Learn

Being a roulette master requires the knowledge of basic words and expressions used at the table. They will help you to understand the game and its rules better, and impress fellow players with your deep knowledge. To bet like a pro, check out a beginner’s glossary with some useful roulette terms.

Whatever type of roulette you aim to play, you need to know some essential terminology. Luckily, both European and American variations of the classic game share the same terms, so you don’t have to study hard (you can use some phrases in rare roulette versions, too.) 

22 Useful Roulette Terms to Memorize

To make our list of useful roulette terms easier to understand, we have placed them in three categories: Basic Roulette Terms (they include the most common roulette terminology), Roulette Table Terms (they help you understand the table and its layout better), and Roulette Games Terms (they apply to different roulette variants).

Basic Roulette Terms

All-in. This term can be applied to many games at online casinos in the US, including roulette. All-in means that the player risks all his money to win from a single bet.

Ball track. Also known as back track, it defines a sector of the roulette wheel where the small white ball spins for a certain period.

Biased wheel. As you might have guessed from its name, this term means a slightly unbalanced wheel that “chooses” the same zones one after the other. 

Bottom track. It is the wheel’s inner track that the ball falls into after losing its momentum, just before it falls into a certain pocket.

Cold wheel. This phrase is used to describe the wheel, where land-based or online players tend to lose more than they win.

Green pocket. One of the most useful roulette terms to remember, it means one or two green sectors on the wheel with zero or double zero.

Pockets. They are small numbered and colored zones on the roulette wheel, in which the ball lands to determine the winner.

Roulette Table & Layout 

Corner. Corner is a type of bet in roulette, where players try to predict four numbers that meet at the same corner on the table layout.

Inside bets. They are wagers made on a sector inside the grid of the betting layout (number bets, corners, etc.)

Layout. Table layout shows all the bets that exist in roulette, and the place where players make their bets with chips.

Outside bets. These are bets made on a sector outside the grid of the betting layout (red/black, odd/even, etc.)

Straight bets. The most popular bets at Bovada Casino, straight bets are the ones made on a single number.

Split. This term means bets on two numbers that are arranged next to each other on the table layout.

Street. A wager you can make on six numbers in a row that are arranged in two horizontal lines on the layout. 

Roulette Games Terminology

American roulette. One of the most popular games at online gambling sites in the US that includes numbers from 1-36, 0, and 00. 

En prison. The round in French roulette where players leave the same bet for the next spin, similarly to the all-or-nothing rule. 

European roulette. Probably, the most popular roulette variation in the world, with 1–36 numbers and a single zero.

French roulette. Basically, it is the same as European roulette, but with two extra rules – en prison and la partage. 

La partage. The round in French roulette where players lose just half their even-odds bet if the first spin is a zero, regaining the other half.

Mini roulette. A smaller version of European roulette with only 13 sectors, 1–12 numbers, and a single zero.

Zero/Double zero. It is a special sector on the wheel/layout that is green. Depending on the roulette type, there can be a single or double zero.

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