What is Roulette?

Roulette is played with colored chips that differ from regular casino chips. Each player gets a color, and when the dealer clears all losing bets and pays the winners, play begins for the next round.

The roulette wheel contains thirty-six red and black compartments (called canoes by croupiers) numbered nonconsecutively from 1 to 36. There is also a green zero compartment on American-style wheels and two green compartments on European-style wheels.

Origins

It’s not possible to say where the game of roulette originated. It’s a very old game and there are a number of competing theories about how it came into existence. Some experts believe that the game was invented by 17th century French mathematician Blaise Pascal while others think it may have come from China and was then brought to Europe by Dominican monks. However, the earliest mention of a roulette-like game dates back to the 1500’s and this suggests that it was likely created from a carnival-style wheel that was popular at the time.

Several games are thought of as precursors to modern roulette including portique, hoca, bassete and even-odd. It’s also possible that the word roullete itself derives from the Latin rotella, which was used to describe any rotating circular object.