The Basics of Roulette

In roulette, players bet on which red or black numbered compartment of a spinning wheel the ball will enter when it stops rotating. Each table carries a placard describing the minimum and maximum betting amounts.

Choose a table with a minimum bet within your budget. Also, try to play European roulette instead of American, which features an extra green pocket labelled 00 and has higher house edge.

Origin

The exact origin of roulette is difficult to pin down. There is a lot of speculation about its beginnings, but most of it is based on anecdotal evidence. Some believe that it was invented by 17th-century French mathematician Blaise Pascal as part of his quest to create a perpetual motion machine. Others claim that it was a game that evolved from earlier games such as portique, hoca, bassette, and even-odd. These games were similar to roulette and shared several common features, including a spinning wheel.

Other historians point to an Italian board game called biribi as the possible ancestor of modern roulette. This theory makes more sense than some of the other ones, as biribi involves placing bets on a layout of numbered squares.

Variations

In roulette, there are several variations that can alter the odds and payouts of a bet. One such variant is the American roulette wheel, which has an extra green pocket, increasing the house’s advantage. Another variation is the French roulette, which has a similar layout to European roulette but uses different terminology for the bets. It also has a special rule called “La Partage” that gives players half of their money back if they lose a bet on an even-money bet. This is the only major difference between European and French roulette. Other than this, there are no differences in gameplay, payouts or basic betting options.