Roulette table etiquette: what to do and what not to do

• Buy in between spins. Cash on the felt, say the denomination, wait for your chips.
• Bet only when the table is open. After the dolly is lifted, before "no more bets".
• Ask the dealer for bets you cannot reach. Say the bet clearly, slide the chips.
• Keep your chips in front of you. Not on the layout, not on the rim.
• Wait for the dolly to be lifted before touching winnings.
• Colour up before leaving. Your colour chips are worthless elsewhere.
• Speak up immediately if you think a bet was misplaced or mispaid.

• Don't touch anything after "no more bets". The single most important rule.
• Don't reach across other players. Ask the dealer instead.
• Don't hand cash to the dealer. It goes on the table where the camera sees it.
• Don't put drinks, bags or phones on the layout. Or the rim.
• Don't move other players' chips, even to fix an obvious mistake. Tell the dealer.
• Don't argue with the dealer. Disputes go to the inspector.
• Don't photograph the table or the wheel. Most casinos prohibit it.

Standing behind a seated player. Fine at most tables if you can reach your spot or use verbal bets. Do not lean on the seated player.

Betting on someone else's number. Perfectly allowed. Your colour, their colour, both paid separately. Nobody owns a number.

Leaving mid-spin. Fine, but colour up first, which means waiting for the spin to end.

Celebrating. A win on a number is worth a moment. Shouting, high-fiving strangers and throwing chips is not, and casinos will quietly ask the enthusiastic to calm down.

A chip placed as the hand is waving is going back to you. A chip placed after the ball has dropped is the thing security watches for. Even an innocent late bet looks like past-posting on camera, so keep hands clear the moment the call comes.

Their chips are theirs. Their luck is theirs. If someone is winning, you do not need to follow their numbers; if someone is losing, you do not need to advise them. A roulette table is a group of strangers sharing a layout, and the pleasant ones share it quietly.

The software enforces most of this: you cannot bet late, touch other chips or reach across anyone. What remains is chat etiquette on live tables, which is the same as anywhere else: civil, brief, nothing you would not say across a real table.