Atlassino Academy · Roulette · Lesson 4
Ficha de color and ficha de chance
At a roulette table in the provinces every player gets a colour of their own. Here is what the colour does, what the chance chips are for, and what the rule books say from the first bet to leaving the table.
You sit down at a roulette table, buy in, and the dealer slides you a stack of chips in a colour no one else has. What is the colour for, and where can you play it?
The short answer
The colour is how the payer tells your bets from everyone else’s, and it is yours only at that table. Under the roulette rule book of Cordoba, the colour goes on the multiple bets, the numbers and the lines between them, and the chances, such as red or black and the dozens, take chance chips, which are the same for everyone; the rule book of the Buenos Aires Province adds that chance chips may not go on the multiple bets. One colour a spin, a hundred chips to a colour, chips put down and never thrown, and if you walk away without a word, the bank may dispose of your colour.
Leoformer dealer · rules and maths
A roulette table can have a crowd of people reaching across it at once. The colours are how the payer keeps the bets straight, and the rule books here are precise about them: which chip goes where, how many, and what happens when you leave.
Two kinds of chips
Chips are small pieces of plastic or acrylic, of different shapes, sizes and colours, that stand in for money and are used to bet. At a roulette table there are two kinds. To bet at a given table, you first buy chips there in a colour that is not already in play, so that the payer can tell quickly and safely whose bet is whose; for the chances, everyone uses special chips that are the same for all players, called “fichas de cambio” or “fichas de chance”.
The player’s guide of Entre Rios puts it the same way: each player has a different colour and can play it only at the table where it was bought, while the chance chips are the same for any player and are used to ask for change or to bet on the chances.
| Ficha de color | Ficha de chance | |
|---|---|---|
| Whose | Yours alone: a colour no one else at the table is playing | Everyone’s: the same chips for every player |
| Where it plays | Only at the table where you bought it | On the chances, and to ask for change |
| Which bets | The multiple bets: numbers and the lines between them | The chances: red or black, even or odd, low or high, dozens and columns |
| Why | So the payer can tell, quickly and safely, whose bet is whose | Your own care: the rule book leaves bets made with them to you |
Which bets take which chips
The Cordoba rule book divides the bets into “suertes múltiples”, the multiple bets on numbers and the lines between them, and “chances”. The colour is for the multiple bets, and chance chips are for the chances. The Buenos Aires Province rule book adds the other half: chance chips may not be played on multiple bets. If the dealer notices chance chips on a multiple bet before the ball is thrown, you are offered a colour and the chips are changed; if no colour is free, you may play it that once.
Because chance chips are the same for everyone, bets made with them are your own care: the rule book leaves looking after them to the player.
One colour, a hundred chips
A player may play one colour or value per ball, at the table where it was exchanged. In every case a colour has 100 chips, and that is the most that may be played; a player on the colour of highest value at the table may ask the payer for 40 units more, to play the maximum of multiple bets on one dozen.
Colours are counted out one to a player, so a busy table can run short: when the payers change over, the one leaving tells the one arriving the order of the players waiting for a colour.
What each chip is worth is not written on this page, and not chosen at the table either: the values of the chips and the minimums and maximums in force are displayed in the room, and a player is taken to know them when making a bet; the minimums and maximums are set by the authority. Read them before you buy in.
Making a bet, and when betting closes
A bet is made by putting chips down. Where they sit has to be clear and precise and show what you intend, and throwing them is not permitted. Bets made in cash, or in values no longer in use, are declared void and handed back.
Bets on the layout
Colour on the numbers, chance chips on the chances; chips put down, not thrown.
The ball
Thrown for at least 8 turns round the rim of the bowl.
No va más
Called before the ball drops from the track: no bet made, taken back or changed after it.
The dolly
Set on the number that came up, without covering the chips on it.
The payout
Announced in full, colour first, and paid by what the chips marked.
The ball is thrown without looking at the wheel, for at least 8 turns round the rim of the bowl, and “no va más” is called before the ball comes down from the track, with a half-circle of the hand over the layout. After “no va más” no bet can be made, and none taken back or changed; a bet that is called out but not made with chips before “no va más” is not accepted.
The dolly and the payout
The dolly is the marker used at an American roulette table to show the number that came up; the payer marks the number and sets the dolly on it, taking care not to cover the chips on the number.
Before paying the multiple bets, the payer states clearly the colour, the value, the bet, the base, the total and the cut, and pays the last ball with as few chips as possible, giving the odd chips in the colour each player had, so that it stays clear whose they are. A bet is paid by what the chips marked on the layout, never by what the player meant. How many chips each bet pays is lesson 4.2.
Leaving the table
The bank may dispose of a colour when the player has left the table without telling the payer that they are still playing there, or when a ball has gone by without a bet. If you step away, say so to the payer, and do not count on the colour waiting. None of the rule books we read describes how a colour is changed back when you leave; ask the payer before you go.
Mayaformer floor supervisor · manners, money and breaks
A stack of colour chips does not look like money, and that is exactly why it goes fast. Decide at home how much you will buy in for and when you will stop, and when the stack is gone, the evening at this table is over.
If the chips start to feel like money you need, the lines below are there for exactly that.
If it stops being fun
If gambling stops being entertainment, help is available. Minimum entry age: each province sets its own. Where we found the rule or regulator that sets it, we cite it on the page; those we found set it at 18. More on responsible gaming.
Show all provinces
If you are thinking about suicide, call 135 or 0800 345 1435 from anywhere in the country
The wheel and the ball
The wheel itself is looked after as well. The rules of the lottery of Buenos Aires City (CABA) ask for the wheels of electromechanical roulettes to be levelled and calibrated as the maker recommends, for the ball to be cleaned or changed regularly and never used when defective, and for a log of every maintenance and cleaning task on the tables and the gaming material. These rules are in the control text approved by resolution 4 of 2020 of the same board, which repealed resolution 340/18, where the same requirements stood before.
Practice: which chip, and is it allowed?
Level 1 puts a bet on the layout and asks which chips it takes. Level 2 describes a moment at the table and asks what the rule books say.
Nothing is bet here, and nothing is random. Each question is a set situation, and the answer comes from the rule books quoted on this page.
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The practice table needs JavaScript. Here is one question from it, with the answer.
- On the layout A bet on red (colorado), one of the simple chances.
Which chips does this take?
- Your colour chips Not this one. The chances are played with chance chips, the special chips that are the same for every player.
- Chance chips The chances are played with chance chips, the special chips that are the same for every player.
- Neither: it is not a bet Not this one. The chances are played with chance chips, the special chips that are the same for every player.
Multiple bets, on numbers and on lines between them, are played with your colour, which tells the payer whose bet is whose. The chances (red or black, even or odd, low or high, dozens and columns) are played with chance chips, the same for everyone. Cash, a colour from another table and a chip after “no va más” are no bet.
- At the table You leave the table without a word to the dealer, and a ball is spun without you.
What can happen to your colour?
- The bank may dispose of it That is what the rule says when a player leaves without telling the payer, or a ball goes by without a bet.
- It is kept for you all night Not this one. The rule gives the bank the right to dispose of a colour left that way.
- The dealer has to cash it and hand you the money later Not this one. No rule we read says so: the rule says the bank may dispose of the colour.
Every answer here is a sentence of the rule books quoted on this page: one colour a spin and a hundred chips to it, chance chips off the multiple bets, chips put down rather than thrown or called, a colour left without a word is the bank’s to dispose of, and a payout announced in full.
Every question in the practice run is worked out the same way: the situation is put through the rule books quoted on this page, and the answer comes out of them, not out of anybody’s habit at another table.
How the practice run works
Where the questions come from. Every answer is a sentence of the rule books of Cordoba and the Buenos Aires Province, or of the guide of Entre Rios. The wrong answers are named mistakes: chance chips on a number, a colour carried to another table, a bet thrown or called out, and a colour taken for something that waits all night.
One strip, and no rounds. Every square on the strip is one question of this lesson, and all of the squares are there from the start. Your first answer fills the square it belongs to; when the squares of one level are full, the next level begins by itself. Practising a question you got wrong turns its cross into “fixed in practice” and does not change the count, because only first answers count.
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Check yourself
Mayaformer floor supervisor · manners, money and breaks
Four quick ones. Pick an answer, then check it. No timer, no points: just whether it stuck.
Back to the question we opened with. The colour tells the payer which bets are yours; it plays on the numbers, only at that table, one colour a spin. The chances take chance chips, and a colour left without a word may be taken back by the bank.
Where to go next, and further reading
18+ under each province’s rules · Play responsibly · the helplines are further up this page
Further reading
- Reglamento de Ruleta · Lotería de Córdoba S.E.The roulette rule book of the province: colour chips bought at the table, chance chips shared by all, and when bets close.
- Resolución 1452/12, Anexo I: Ruleta Americana · Instituto Provincial de Lotería y Casinos de la Provincia de Buenos AiresThe rules of the game and of the staff: a hundred chips to a colour, the dolly, how the payer announces a payout, and what happens to a colour left behind.
- Ruleta / Juegos tradicionales de casinos (DOC-H8-GCA-CSJ-004 V00) · Instituto de Ayuda Financiera a la Acción Social, Entre RíosA short player’s guide: the two kinds of chips, and why a colour belongs to one table.
How it’s worked out
Rules, sources and hosts
Where the rules come from. The table is described by the roulette rule book of the lottery of Cordoba, by resolution 1452/12 of the Buenos Aires Province lottery and casino institute, annex I, chapters 1 and 2 (the rules of the game and the duties of the staff at an American roulette table), and by the player’s guide to roulette of the Entre Rios institute. Where only one of them says something, the button under the sentence shows which: a rule of one province is not a rule of every room in the country.
The wheel. The maintenance rules come from the annex of resolution 4 of 2020 of the board of the lottery of Buenos Aires City (CABA). That resolution repealed resolution 340/18, whose annex had set the same requirements, and the city’s official bulletin lists 340/18 as no longer in force.
Our readings. The Buenos Aires Province rule book allows “one colour or value” a ball; we read it as one colour a player. The words “payer” and “dealer” stand for the Pagador of the Buenos Aires Province rule book and the Tallador of the Cordoba one. Which chips go on which bets follows the Cordoba rule book; the Buenos Aires Province one says only that chance chips may not go on multiple bets.
What is deliberately absent. No rule book we read says how a colour is changed back into the casino’s chips or into money, so this page does not describe it. The value of each chip is displayed in the room and changes with it, so there is no amount here. What each bet pays is lesson 4.2.
Sources. Every rule on this page carries a button with the sentence it rests on, in the rule book’s own Spanish, the publisher who wrote that sentence and the date we read it.
Hosts. Leo and Maya are illustrated characters. Their backstories, a former dealer and a former floor supervisor, are written for the course: neither is a real person, and neither speaks for any casino. The rules and numbers on this page come from the sources it cites, not from their experience.
No promise. Knowing which chip goes where keeps your bets yours; it does not change which number comes up, and nothing here says how an evening at the table would end.
Two kinds of chips
Para efectuar sus apuestas, en una mesa determinada, los jugadores deberán previamente adquirir en la misma fichas de un color que no esté en juego. Esto permitirá al respectivo Pagador identificar rápidamente y en forma segura al dueño de cada apuesta.Free translation: To place their bets at a given table, players must first acquire at that table chips of a color that is not in play. This will allow the respective Payer to identify the owner of each bet quickly and reliably.
Para apostar en las denominadas "chances", se usarán fichas especiales iguales para todos los jugadores, y que se designan con el nombre de "fichas de cambio" o "fichas de chance".Free translation: To bet on the so-called "chances", special chips will be used, identical for all players, designated by the name "exchange chips" or "chance chips".
Lotería de Córdoba S.E. (portal) · Reglamento de Ruleta · read
En la mesa encontrará dos tipos de fichas: fichas de Color y fichas de Chances.Free translation: At the table you will find two types of chips: Color chips and Chance chips.
IAFAS Entre Ríos · Ruleta / Juegos Tradicionales de Casinos (DOC-H8-GCA-CSJ-004 V00) · read
A colour is yours at one table
Entre las de “Color” hay de distintos colores y valores. Esto es para evitar confusiones, ya que cada apostador posee un color diferente, y sólopuede jugarlo en la mesa donde lo adquirió.Free translation: The "Color" chips come in different colors and values. This is to avoid confusion, since each bettor has a different color and can only play it at the table where it was acquired.
IAFAS Entre Ríos · Ruleta / Juegos Tradicionales de Casinos (DOC-H8-GCA-CSJ-004 V00) · read
The dolly
DOLLY: Marcador utilizado en mesa de Ruleta Americana para identificar el número premiado.Free translation: DOLLY: Marker used at the American Roulette table to identify the winning number.
Marcará el número y colocará el Dolly sobre el mismo, cuidando de no tapar los plenosFree translation: The dealer shall mark the number and place the Dolly on it, taking care not to cover the straight-up bets
Cash on the layout is no bet
Serán declaradas nulas las apuestas en efectivo y /o valores no vigentes que se hubieren efectuado, siendo devueltas al Apostador.Free translation: Bets made in cash and/or with values that are not valid shall be declared void and returned to the Bettor.
Chips stand in for money
FICHAS. Pequeñas piezas de material plástico o acrílico de distintas formas, tamaños y colores, que reemplazan al dinero y sirven para apostar.Free translation: CHIPS. Small pieces of plastic or acrylic material of different shapes, sizes and colors, which replace money and are used for betting.
Chips stand in for money
FICHAS. Pequeñas piezas de material plástico o acrílico de distintas formas, tamaños y colores, que reemplazan al dinero y sirven para apostar.Free translation: CHIPS. Small pieces of plastic or acrylic material of different shapes, sizes and colors, which replace money and are used for betting.
Two kinds of chips
Para efectuar sus apuestas, en una mesa determinada, los jugadores deberán previamente adquirir en la misma fichas de un color que no esté en juego. Esto permitirá al respectivo Pagador identificar rápidamente y en forma segura al dueño de cada apuesta.Free translation: To place their bets at a given table, players must first acquire at that table chips of a color that is not in play. This will allow the respective Payer to identify the owner of each bet quickly and reliably.
Para apostar en las denominadas "chances", se usarán fichas especiales iguales para todos los jugadores, y que se designan con el nombre de "fichas de cambio" o "fichas de chance".Free translation: To bet on the so-called "chances", special chips will be used, identical for all players, designated by the name "exchange chips" or "chance chips".
Lotería de Córdoba S.E. (portal) · Reglamento de Ruleta · read
En la mesa encontrará dos tipos de fichas: fichas de Color y fichas de Chances.Free translation: At the table you will find two types of chips: Color chips and Chance chips.
IAFAS Entre Ríos · Ruleta / Juegos Tradicionales de Casinos (DOC-H8-GCA-CSJ-004 V00) · read
A colour is yours at one table
Entre las de “Color” hay de distintos colores y valores. Esto es para evitar confusiones, ya que cada apostador posee un color diferente, y sólopuede jugarlo en la mesa donde lo adquirió.Free translation: The "Color" chips come in different colors and values. This is to avoid confusion, since each bettor has a different color and can only play it at the table where it was acquired.
IAFAS Entre Ríos · Ruleta / Juegos Tradicionales de Casinos (DOC-H8-GCA-CSJ-004 V00) · read
Chance chips are the same for everyone
Las de Chance, son iguales para cualquier apostador y se utilizan para pedir cambio o apostar a chances.Free translation: The Chance chips are the same for every bettor and are used to ask for change or to bet on chances.
IAFAS Entre Ríos · Ruleta / Juegos Tradicionales de Casinos (DOC-H8-GCA-CSJ-004 V00) · read
Two kinds of bets
Las suertes posibles se dividen en "suertes múltiples" y "chances".Free translation: The possible bets are divided into "multiple bets" (suertes múltiples) and "chances".
Lotería de Córdoba S.E. (portal) · Reglamento de Ruleta · read
No chance chips on multiple bets
No está permitido jugar fichas de chance en Apuestas Múltiples.Free translation: Playing chance chips on Multiple Bets is not allowed.
Section Capítulo 1, Ruleta Americana: Reglamento del Juego (1.1 a 1.10)
De advertirse la jugada con fichas de chanceFree translation: If a play with chance chips is noticed
se procederá a ofrecer color y efectuar el cambio correspondiente, de no haber color disponible se le permitirá jugar por única vez.Free translation: the player shall be offered color chips and the corresponding exchange made; if no color is available, the player shall be allowed to play once only.
Chance chips are your care
Es responsabilidad del público Apostador el cuidado de las jugadas que realice con fichas de chanceFree translation: The Bettor is responsible for looking after the bets made with chance chips.
Section Capítulo 1, Ruleta Americana: Reglamento del Juego (1.1 a 1.10)
One colour a spin
Al Apostador le será permitido jugar un color y/o valor por bola en la mesa que le fuera canjeado.Free translation: The Bettor will be allowed to play one color and/or value per ball at the table where it was exchanged for them.
Section Capítulo 1, Ruleta Americana: Reglamento del Juego (1.1 a 1.10)
A hundred chips to a colour
En todos los casos los colores tendrán 100 fichas, que será la cantidad máxima que se permite jugar.Free translation: In all cases the colors will have 100 chips, which will be the maximum quantity allowed to be played.
El Apostador que juegue el color de mayor valor de la mesa, tiene el derecho de solicitar al Pagador cuarenta unidades más; para jugar el máximo de Suertes Múltiples a una docena.Free translation: The Bettor who plays the highest-value color at the table has the right to ask the Dealer for forty more units, in order to play the maximum of Multiple Bets on a dozen.
Waiting for a colour
El orden de los Apostadores que esperan color.Free translation: The order of the Bettors waiting for color.
Values and limits are posted
El público podrá tomar conocimiento de los valores de las fichas, mínimos y máximos en vigencia, exhibidos en la sala de juego, dándose como conocidos por el Apostador en el momento de efectuar su apuesta.Free translation: The public may find out the values of the chips and the minimums and maximums in force, displayed in the gaming room, and these are deemed known by the Bettor at the moment of placing their bet.
Los mínimos y los máximos de las apuestas, serán los que determina la Superioridad en cada caso.Free translation: The minimum and maximum bets shall be those determined by the Superioridad in each case.
Section Capítulo 1, Ruleta Americana: Reglamento del Juego (1.1 a 1.10)
Las apuestas para cada suerte o chance oscilarán entre un mínimo y un máximo que la Repartición fijará oportunamente.Free translation: Bets for each bet or chance shall range between a minimum and a maximum that the Repartición shall set in due course.
Lotería de Córdoba S.E. (portal) · Reglamento de Ruleta · read
Put the chips down
La ubicación de las fichas en el tapete deberá ser clara y precisa, definiendo la intención del Apostador; a tal efecto no estará permitido arrojarlas.Free translation: The placement of chips on the layout must be clear and precise, showing the Bettor's intention; for that purpose, throwing them is not permitted.
Section Capítulo 1, Ruleta Americana: Reglamento del Juego (1.1 a 1.10)
Cash on the layout is no bet
Serán declaradas nulas las apuestas en efectivo y /o valores no vigentes que se hubieren efectuado, siendo devueltas al Apostador.Free translation: Bets made in cash and/or with values that are not valid shall be declared void and returned to the Bettor.
The ball and the call
lanza la bola en rotación contraria al anterior, sin mirar el cilindro y condicionada a un mínimo de ocho vueltas sobre el tope de la cazuela.Free translation: spins the ball in the direction opposite to the previous one, without looking at the wheel and subject to a minimum of eight turns around the top of the bowl.
antes que la bola descienda del tope de la pista de rodamiento, debiendo realizar el Pagador un movimiento semicircular con la mano sobre el tapete de juego.Free translation: before the ball descends from the top of the ball track, the Dealer having to make a semicircular movement with the hand over the playing layout.
No va más
Luego que el Tallador anuncie "no va más" no podrá efectuarse ninguna apuesta ni retirar o modificar las ya efectuadas.Free translation: Once the Dealer announces "no va más", no bet may be placed, and bets already placed may not be withdrawn or changed.
En ningún caso se aceptarán apuestas anunciadas cuyo valor no sea hecho efectivo con fichas antes del "no va más".Free translation: In no case will announced bets be accepted whose value is not made good with chips before the "no va más".
Lotería de Córdoba S.E. (portal) · Reglamento de Ruleta · read
The dolly
DOLLY: Marcador utilizado en mesa de Ruleta Americana para identificar el número premiado.Free translation: DOLLY: Marker used at the American Roulette table to identify the winning number.
Marcará el número y colocará el Dolly sobre el mismo, cuidando de no tapar los plenosFree translation: The dealer shall mark the number and place the Dolly on it, taking care not to cover the straight-up bets
The payout names the colour
distinguirá las suertes a pagar, expresando con claridad: COLOR, VALOR, SUERTE, BASE, MONTO TOTAL Y CORTE.Free translation: shall distinguish the bets to be paid, stating clearly: COLOR, VALUE, BET, BASE, TOTAL AMOUNT AND CUT.
Efectuará el pago de la última bola utilizando el mínimo número de valores requeridos y como picos, el color que cada Apostador poseía para su mejor identificación.Free translation: The payment for the last ball shall be made using the minimum number of denominations required and, as odd chips, the color that each Bettor held, for better identification.
Paid by what the chip marks
Una vez definida la suerte se pagará de acuerdo a lo que la ficha marque, en ningún caso se tomará en cuenta la intención del Apostador.Free translation: Once the outcome has been determined, payment will be made according to what the chip indicates; in no case will the Bettor's intention be taken into account.
Section Capítulo 1, Ruleta Americana: Reglamento del Juego (1.1 a 1.10)
Leaving without a word
La Banca podrá disponer del color, habiéndose retirado el Apostador de la mesa sin informar al Pagador su continuidad de juego en la misma o, transcurrido una bola sin jugarFree translation: The Bank may dispose of the color if the Bettor has left the table without informing the Payer that they will continue playing there, or if one ball has passed without playing.
Section Capítulo 1, Ruleta Americana: Reglamento del Juego (1.1 a 1.10)
The wheel is looked after
Calibración y nivelación de cilindros. Deberá asegurarse los niveles y calibración de los cilindros recomendadas por el fabricante.Free translation: Calibration and leveling of wheels. The levels and calibration of the wheels recommended by the manufacturer must be ensured.
La bola debe limpiarse o cambiarse periódicamente. Nunca se deberá usar una bola defectuosa.Free translation: The ball must be cleaned or replaced periodically. A defective ball must never be used.
El Agente Operador deberá llevar un registro de mantenimiento y limpieza con detalle de las tareas y operaciones efectuadas con esa finalidad, y las mesas de paño y/o materiales de juegos de casino involucrados, el que tendrá carácter de declaración jurada.Free translation: The Operating Agent must keep a maintenance and cleaning log detailing the tasks and operations carried out for that purpose, and the gaming tables and/or casino gaming materials involved, which shall have the status of a sworn statement.
Resolution 340/18 repealed
Art. 1 de la Resolución de Directorio 4-LOTBA-20 deroga la Resolución de Directorio 340-LOTBA-18.Free translation: Art. 1 of Board Resolution 4-LOTBA-20 repeals Board Resolution 340-LOTBA-18.