A first look at "What are the basic rules of roulette?" takes in both halves of the table. A roulette table has two halves: the wheel, where a dealer spins the ball, and the board, where every bet is placed on a printed layout. The basic rules fit in a minute, yet the board holds dozens of bets with different payouts, and the dealer follows a fixed routine at every spin. Seeing how the board and the deal work answers most questions before the first chip goes down.
Roulette dealer rules keep every spin the same. The dealer spins the wheel one way and the ball the other, calls no more bets as the ball slows, marks the winning number with a dolly, clears losing chips first and pays winners from the outside in. Learning how to deal roulette means learning that routine and the payouts by heart. Board rules add limits on how chips may be stacked, so each bet can be read at a glance. Machines on the floor follow the same payouts and are not fixed. Regulations allow no illegal bets on the layout.
How much a win pays on a roulette table follows from those odds: a chip on one number returns thirty five chips plus the stake, a chip on red returns one. Players can bet on zero like any other number, with a straight up or as part of a split or a basket. Betting red and black at the same time is allowed but pointless, since one side loses what the other wins and landing on green takes both. Neither color does better over time.