Origin of Roulette

Roulette is a game played on a table with numbers and betting areas. Players place chips on numbered spots inside or outside the table until the croupier announces “no more bets!”

The wheel has thirty-six compartments painted red and black and numbered nonconsecutively from 1 to 36. A green compartment on European wheels carries the number 0 and two green compartments on American wheels carry the numbers 00.

Origin

Despite being one of the world’s most popular casino games, the origin of roulette is relatively unknown. Various theories have been advanced, including that the game was invented by 17th century French mathematician and physicist Blaise Pascal during his pursuit of a perpetual motion machine. However, this is unlikely since Pascal was a scientist and not a gambler. The earliest game that resembled Roulette was played in ancient China and Greece, although the extent to which it shared similarities with the modern European version is not known.

The first true version of the game emerged in 17th century France, where it combined elements of Roly Poly and Even Odds, two games that involved betting on a spinning wheel, with Biribi, an Italian game that had players bet on which numbered ticket would be pulled from a bag.

Variations

There are a few variations of roulette, but they all share the same basic rules and payouts. European roulette, for example, contains 37 pockets and does not have a double zero (0) like American roulette. This means it has better odds and is a more popular choice for players. French roulette has the same layout and offers the same basic betting options but also includes rules such as La Partage and En Prison, which can further improve a player’s chances of winning.