What is Roulette?

Roulette is a casino game in which players bet on the number that will appear on the roulette wheel. Bets are placed by placing chips on a betting mat, with specific locations marked for each bet type.

There are several different types of bets, each with its own house edge. The American version of the game has an extra green division, 00, which increases the house edge over the European game.

Origin

The game of roullete (or roulette in English) is played with a wheel that has 38 divisions numbered from 1 to 36. A ball is rolled into the wheel and bets are placed on which number will appear by placing chips on a betting mat. The game has a long and storied history but the exact origins of roullete are not well known. Many different theories exist, including that it was invented by 17th century French mathematician Blaise Pascal as part of his attempts to create a perpetual motion machine or that it is based on the older games of hoca and portique.

Variations

There are a few variations of roulette that differ in their rules and payouts. Some games feature a single ball while others use two. Other differences are the number of segments on the wheel and house edge. For example, European Roulette has 37 pockets and a single zero while French Roulette retains these features with the addition of two additional rules – ‘En prison’ and ‘La Partage’. Other popular variants include Lightning Roulette, which relies on multipliers and offers payouts up to 500x your bet. Or try Triple Bonus Spin Roulette from IGT that offers a 1:12,000 payout for straight wins.