What is Roulette?

Roulette is a game of chance played on a wheel with numbers from 0 to 36 (or 00 in American roulette). A croupier spins the wheel and then drops a ball into one of the numbered slots. If your bet matches the number, you win.

Learn the odds and bet types before you play. But remember, a good strategy isn’t enough to make you a winner.

Origins

The exact origin of roullete isn’t known with certainty, but it’s likely that the game came from an experiment by French physicist Blaise Pascal. His attempts at inventing perpetual motion led to a wheel with single- and double-zero slots that became the roulette wheel as we know it today.

The game was also popular among the aristocracy in pre-revolutionary Paris, where it was played in gilded gambling parlors. When Europeans immigrated to America, they brought their roulette games with them.

Other similar games include portique, hoca, bassette, and roly poly. The games differ in their structure, but they all use a spinning wheel.

Variations

There are many different variations of roulette, each with its own house edge and special betting rules. Choosing the right variant for your game depends on your skill level and experience. For beginners, it’s best to stick with the classic European version that uses a single-zero wheel and offers a friendly house edge. If you’re an experienced player, on the other hand, you might want to try out roulette games with more complex bets or special betting rules. It’s also important to consider turn order, as the probability of losing decreases with each spin. The house edge remains the same regardless of turn order, though.