Roulette chips have no actual value away from the table. Each player gets a specific color of chips and they are only worth their buy-in when cashing out at the end of a game.
A roulette wheel contains thirty-six numbered compartments, alternately painted red and black, plus a zero (or double zero on American wheels). A croupier spins the wheel and the ball goes into one of the slots.
Origin
The origins of roulette are not as clear as some might think. Many different games have similar elements, and it’s hard to pin down exactly where the game originated. However, most historians agree that it was invented by French mathematician Blaise Pascal in 1655. He was working on his quest to create a perpetual motion machine, but inadvertently developed the roulette wheel.
He combined a gaming wheel with the Italian game Biribi and the English game even-odd to create the modern version of the roulette. Interestingly, roulette also has connections to ancient Rome and Greece. The Romans played a game that used shields with symbols, and the Greeks used an arrow to spin a spinning wheel. These games were popular among soldiers. They may have been the ancestors of modern roulette.
Variations
When it comes to roulette, there are several different variations that players can choose from. One of the most popular is European Roulette, which features 38 pockets and a single zero, and offers players a lower house edge. Another variation is French Roulette, which follows European Roulette rules but also incorporates ‘En prison’ and ‘La Partage’ to offer even better odds of winning. There are also themed variations such as Astro Roulette, which uses a traditional European Roulette wheel but replaces traditional numbers with zodiac signs for unique astrology-based betting options. Other variations of the game include Double Ball Roulette, which is similar to European Roulette but uses two balls instead of one and offers a bonus payout.