Roulette is a casino game that involves spinning a wheel and placing bets on different groups of numbers. Different bets offer different odds and payouts. Some bets are called inside and others are called outside bets.
The Roulette wheel has thirty-six red and black compartments numbered 1 to 36, plus a green division labelled 0. A double-zero version is also found at some casinos.
Origin
There are many fanciful theories about the origin of roullete, but all of them seem to point back to some sort of English or Italian game that had a wheel. Some people believe that it was invented in the 17th century by French physicist Blaise Pascal as part of his attempts to create a machine that could demonstrate perpetual motion. Others believe that it came from a board game called Roly Poly or from the games of hoca and portique. Still others think that it was derived from the Italian game biribi, which makes more sense because in that game players place chips on a layout of numbered squares and hope to be randomly selected. Regardless of its true origin, roulette has been a popular casino game since the 18th century.
Variations
While the rules of roulette are the same across all versions, there are a few differences that can make an impact on your winning potential. These variations usually involve the type of bets that can be made and the payouts. For instance, some online European Roulette variants offer announced bets that aren’t normally featured in the traditional French version. These bets include en prison and la partage and can increase your chances of winning a prize. Other variations include Double Ball Roulette, which uses the European Roulette layout but offers different bets and a lower house edge of 2.7%. There’s also Lighting Roulette from Evolution Gaming, which features multipliers of up to 500x your bet and Triple Bonus Spin Roulette from IGT, which has a payout of 1:12,000 for straight bonus wins.