Roulette is a casino game that involves spinning a numbered wheel. Players place bets on one of several groupings of numbers, whether it is red or black, or if it is odd or even. After a ball is thrown onto the wheel and it comes to rest on a number, the player who has placed a bet on that number wins.
The game is named for the French word for “little wheel.” It was likely developed in France from older games such as hoca and portique, but it was only after its arrival in the United States that it acquired its modern layout and wheel structure. There are many legends of how it was invented, including by the 17th-century French mathematician Blaise Pascal and by Dominican monks.
How to play Roullete
The croupier spins the roulette wheel and then drops the ball into a numbered slot. The winning number is marked on the table and bets are paid out. Depending on which number the ball lands in, players may be able to win up to 36 times the amount of money they bet.
There are different types of bets, and they all pay out differently. To make a bet, simply place your chips in the desired area of the table. The dealer (or croupier) will then ask you what denomination you would like to designate for each chip. Roulette chips come in a variety of colors, so each player can easily identify their bets on the table.
Unlike blackjack, in which the players are playing against the house, roulette is played against other players. The players share the house’s edge, which is the difference between the odds of hitting a specific number and the probability that it will land in a particular slot.
The roulette wheel consists of 38 pockets, each colored red and black. Thirty-six of these pockets are numbered nonconsecutively from 1 to 36, while the last two, 0 and 00, are painted green. The wheel is spun by a special mechanism, called a ball track and a spindle. A croupier pushes a small white ball into the numbered slot and it is spun until it stops. The croupier then pays out the winning bets. Despite these odds, many professional gamblers were able to gain an edge over the house in roulette by seeking out rigged wheels and betting opposite the major bets. The system was eventually banned in the United States, however, because it was too easy for people to cheat.