Roulette is a game of chance played on a table with numbers 1 through 36 and a 0 (or 00 in some American games). The croupier spins a ball into a series of slots that correspond to the number of different types of bets.
Players place bets on individual numbers, groups of numbers, or colors. The winning bets receive payouts based on the odds of each type of bet.
Origins
The exact origin of roulette is unknown. Fanciful stories suggest that it was invented by a 17th-century French mathematician named Blaise Pascal, while he was trying to invent a perpetual motion machine. Other historians believe that it evolved from earlier games such as Biribi and an even-odd game called bassette.
The earliest documented appearance of roulette was in Paris in 1796. At that time, it was played with a double-zero wheel. When gambling was made legal in 1860, the Blanc brothers removed the second zero from the wheel, creating a single-zero version of the game that became known as European or French roulette. It is possible that this single-zero variant was brought to America by French migrants. The word roulette is derived from the Latin word rotella, meaning little wheel.
Variations
There are many different variations of roulette. Some of them have special rules or bets, while others have a higher house edge than the classic European format. Choosing the right game variant depends on the player’s skill level and experience. For example, beginners should choose a variant that follows the European format and offers a friendly house edge. If they’re experienced players, they may prefer the games that feature a single zero. In these games, turn order does not influence the overall loss probability but influences the probability of a single pull. The latter increases with each subsequent spin. The odds of losing also decrease as one’s turn progresses.