May 2025

Roullete (roh-LET-lay) is one of the gambling industry’s most beloved games and a staple at both online and land casinos worldwide. This simple yet thrilling game involves placing bets on one or more numbered slots on a rotating wheel before waiting to see where the ball lands when the wheel comes to a stop. Though many attempt to build complicated systems for beating odds when betting, ultimately roulette remains mostly a game of chance; though some strategies can increase your odds.

The Roulette Wheel

A roulette wheel consists of a solid wooden disk with a segmented outer surface and metal separators called frets on its perimeter. At its center is a circular rim containing thirty-six compartments painted alternately red and black; one green compartment bears the sign 0 while two more green compartments on American wheels carry it twice (00 and 00 respectively). There are also some pockets painted white which contain white balls; after spinning the wheel a croupier or dealer spins it and drops them into its appropriate pocket(s).

As soon as the ball drops, the dealer clears all losing bets and pays winners before declaring, “No more bets.” Players then place their chips on the table: each has a set of colored chips to represent their desired wager amount – these have no value outside of roulette but when stacks of colored chips appear the dealer will place a token to represent its value.

Inside bets involve placing specific numbers or combinations of numbers with a higher house edge than outside bets; however, their payouts tend to be larger; for instance, betting on number 18 costs 40 chips but pays out 392 chips! On the other hand, outside bets typically involve wagers made on large groups of numbers (either odd/even number combinations or random bets), and have lower house edges compared with inside bets.

Before diving in to playing roulette, it’s essential that you understand its rules and house edge. Familiarize yourself with different bet types and their costs in order to gain a full grasp of how the game works. Once you understand these basics, begin experimenting with the different bet types until you find ones that best suit you and experiment until you find ones you enjoy playing the most – remembering that roulette is ultimately a game of chance – don’t take yourself too seriously when losing; keep playing until your odds increase – don’t take yourself too seriously when losing; just keep going until your chances increase – don’t forget having fun while doing so!

The Sidney Prize recognizes excellence in journalism every month. Nominations should be submitted no later than the last day of every month to qualify. We seek articles that explore important social, cultural and political issues through original narrative. Articles should be original, well-researched and accessible to a general readership; their author will receive a $500 honorarium and certificate designed by New Yorker cartoonist Edward Sorel as prizes; winners receive an honorarium of $500 honorarium designed exclusively by him! Nominations should be submitted no later than that date for consideration!

At this year’s Sidney Awards, many winning essays went beyond reacting to current events by looking at the bigger picture. Walter Russell Mead’s essay for The American Interest titled “The Once and Future Liberalism” demonstrated this point by suggesting that two types of liberalism–Manchester liberal philosophy from 1890s and big organization managerialist liberalism of today–are fighting each other ideologically right now.

Clare Jackson of AJL recently published an acclaimed history book on royalist ideas in late seventeenth century Scotland following a Junior Research Fellowship at Sidney. Subsequently she earned her PhD at Oxford and now serves as Senior Tutor and Walter Grant Scott Fellow at Trinity Hall Cambridge. Additionally she serves as Director of Studies in History.

This year’s award honoured young reader titles that authentically depict Jewish experience while meeting high literary standards. These included heartwarming novels of family resilience in the face of trauma; engaging nonfiction accounts about Holocaust survivors; and an eye-opening graphic biography about one of the world’s leading portraitists. Winners are showcased on Sydney Taylor Book Award Seals of Excellence available for sale both in stores and online; reviews can also be seen on The Sydney Taylor Shmooze blog hosted by AJL.

Overland Magazine is pleased to honor Annie Zhang as the winner of the 2023 Neilma Sidney Short Story Prize with her story ‘Who Rattles the Night?’ written on unceded Wangal territory. Zhang is both a writer and editor who was selected as a Western Sydney Emerging Writer Fellow in 2019. Overland is a not-for-profit magazine which has an established history of supporting writers while publishing ideas and voices often neglected elsewhere.

Established by the Playwrights’ Company in 1939, this prize provided support for an emerging young theatre playwright who showed promise but hadn’t quite made an impressionful mark yet. Robert Ardrey won its inaugural prize with his play Thunder Rock which struggled on Broadway but eventually went on to become an international classic; over time this prize would eventually give way to more renowned awards such as Nevil Shute.