Roulette Snake Bet

What is the snake bet in roulette?

Take one number from each streetbetStreetThree numbers in a row of the layout, pays 11:1. French: transversale.Read full → in turn, one place further along the street each time and turning back at the edge: the first of 1-2-3, the middle of 4-5-6, the last of 7-8-9, the last again of 10-11-12, then the middle and the first, and so on to 34. That gives 1, 5, 9, 12, 14, 16, 19, 23, 27, 30, 32 and 34: one number from every street, and every one of them redbetRedEven-money bet on the 18 red numbers. French: rouge.Read full →. Drawn on the felt, the path bends like a snake, which is all the name means; it is also called the red snake.

Snake bet payout and odds

Where the layoutequipmentLayoutThe printed betting grid on the table. Also: table, felt, cloth.Read full → marks a snake, one chipmoneyChipA token representing a fixed amount, placed on the layout to make a bet. Also: check.Read full → pays 2 to 1, exactly like a dozenbetDozen1–12, 13–24 or 25–36, pays 2:1.Read full →. Elsewhere you make it as twelve one-unitmoneyUnitThe base stake a system or a player works in. Progressions are described in units so they apply at any table.Read full → straight upsbetStraight upA single number, pays 35:1.Read full →: a hit pays 35 on one chip and loses the other eleven, +24 on 12 units, which is 2 to 1 again. Either way, over 37 average spins the bet wins 12 times and loses 25: 12 × 2 − 25 = −1 unit for every 37 staked, 2.70%.

A balanced shape

The snake takes four numbers from each dozen, four from each columnbetColumnTwelve numbers in one vertical column of the layout, pays 2:1.Read full →, six odd and six even, six low and six high. The one thing it is not balanced on is color: all twelve numbers are red. Snake and blackbetBlackEven-money bet on the 18 black numbers. French: noir.Read full → together cover 30 numbers with no overlap; snake and red pay twice on twelve of the eighteen reds.

On the wheel

The twelve numbers are scattered: no two of them are neighborsbetNeighborsA number and the two pockets on either side of it on the wheel, five straight-up chips.Read full → on the European wheel. Clockwise from zerowheelZeroThe single green pocket that no even-money, dozen or column bet covers; the source of the house edge. Also: single zero, 0.Read full → they come up as 32, 19, 34, 27, 30, 23, 5, 16, 1, 14, 9, 12. The snake is a shape on the layout, not a sectorwheelSectorA contiguous arc of pockets on the wheel, as distinct from a group on the layout.Read full → of the wheel.

Where you can bet it

Few casinos print a snake on the layout. Where there is none, the dealer takes it as twelve straight ups, which needs twelve times the table minimum for inside betsbetInside betAny bet placed on or between the numbers of the grid: straight up, split, street, corner, six line.Read full →. On an American wheel the same twelve numbers cover 12 of 38 pocketsequipmentPocketOne of the 37 numbered compartments on the rotor. Also: slot, cup.Read full → and cost 5.26%, like every other bet there except the five-number bet.

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