What is a Roulete?

A roullete is a game of chance. It is played on a table with numbered slots and a revolving wheel. There are 18 red pockets, 18 black pockets, and one or two green pockets (depending on the version).

Players place their chips on a betting mat until the dealer announces “No more bets”. Each table carries a placard describing the minimum and maximum bets allowed.

Origin

There isn’t a lot of agreement about the origins of roulette, but most agree that it started in 18th century France. Some say it was invented by the French mathematician Blaise Pascal as part of his quest to develop a perpetual motion machine. Others claim it was based on older games like portique, hoca, bassette and roly poly.

There is also a story that it came from the Italian board game biribi. This makes a bit more sense, as in biribi players bet on a layout of numbered squares, so it could have been an ancestor. Others point to games played by soldiers as a possible ancestor of roulette. These included shields with symbols on them that were spun, much like a modern day wheel of fortune.

Bets

The most popular type of outside bet is on a Dozens bet, which covers 12 numbers and pays 2-1. Another common one is a Columns bet, which covers 12 numbers and offers the same payout. There are also other bets, such as a Split bet, which involves placing chips on the intersection of two adjacent numbers on the betting grid: this wager pays 17 times the initial bet if it turns out to be correct.