What Is Roulette and What Are Its Variations?

Roulette is a game that requires no special skills or equipment to play. Just give the dealer your money between spins and she will distribute coloured chips to you.

Then, the croupier (dealer) will spin the wheel and roll a ball around it. If you have placed a bet on the right number, section or colour, you will win according to the betting odds.

Origin

Despite the fact that roulette has a long history, there isn’t much known about its origins. The most popular theory is that it was invented in the 17th century by French physicist Blaise Pascal as part of his attempt to create a perpetual motion machine. However, there is not enough evidence to support this claim. During the same period, Roman and Greek soldiers played a game that was similar to roulette. They would place chips on a shield that had symbols on it and spin it to see which symbol would land in front of an arrow.

The game also had influences from English games like Roly Poly and even/odd, as well as the Italian board game Biribi. Ultimately, the game became popular in 18th-century France.

Variations

As in many casino games, variations of roulette have emerged to meet players’ needs. Some variants offer a more enjoyable experience while others have lower payouts. For example, a game of European Roulette has 37 partitions and a single zero, while a French Roulette game offers the same rules as the standard version, but adds two additional rules- ‘En prison’ and ‘La Partage’- to make the house edge lower at 2.7%. Other variations include Lighting Roulette from Evolution Gaming, which offers multipliers and a triple bonus spin that can deliver payouts up to 1:12,000.