What is Roulette?

You place bets on numbered areas of the roulette table until the dealer announces “no more bets.” You buy colored chips from the dealer, with each color having a different value.

The roulette wheel has 38 compartments, numbered from 1 to 36 and alternately red and black (except for the 0 and 00 on American wheels). A croupier spins a ball into one of these numbers.

Origin

A game of chance characterized by a table marked off in sections with numbers from 1 to 36, one or two zeros and various other betting opportunities on red and black backgrounds, and having in the center a roulettewheel into which a small ball is spun to come to rest finally in one of the compartments. Also, a device used to perforate sheets of postage stamps so that they can be separated easily.

The earliest recorded incarnation of roulette dates back to the 17th century, when it was invented by French mathematician and physicist Blaise Pascal as part of his quest to create a perpetual motion machine. However, it wasn’t until the late 18 th century that the modern version of roulette became popular with gamblers and casinos in France.