Roulette is a casino game with many different types of bets. All these bets have specific odds and payouts. Unlike craps, roulette also has a lot of variations.
European roulette is the most popular variation of the game at physical and online casinos. It features a single zero pocket which dramatically lowers the house edge to a coveted 2.7%.
Origins
Several websites have been written about the history of roulette, but they all seem to point to supposed ancestors that are English (Roly Poly and Even-Odd), Spanish (Hoca), or Italian (Biribi). The game actually emerged in 17th century France. It is thought that Blaise Pascal’s experiments with a perpetual motion machine, combined with elements of the English games Roly Poly and Even-Odd and the Italian game Biribi, to create the roulette wheel. The first written reference to the game was in a published set of gambling regulations for Quebec (now Canada) in 1758. It was included on a list of games that were banned. The game’s name reflects its French origin. It literally means “small wheel”.
The game spread up and down the Mississippi River and then westwards by paddle steamers.