Roulette is a simple game of chance that’s fun to play. But it requires more than just luck to be successful. You must know which bets have the highest chances of winning and which have the lowest.
A croupier spins a wheel that has 36 numbers and, on some American tables, a 0 or “00.” Players place bets on a variety of combinations of these numbers or propositions.
Origin
Fanciful stories abound about the origin of roulette. Some think that it was invented by the 17th-century French mathematician Blaise Pascal in his search for a perpetual motion machine. Others believe it was derived from older games like portique, hoca and bassette. Regardless of its true origin, roulette became the dominant game in European gambling houses and casinos during the 18th century.
One of the more believable theories is that it came from an Italian board game called biribi. Unlike some of the more far-fetched tales, this story makes sense as biribi involved a layout of numbered squares where players placed chips to see which would be randomly selected. It was also played by soldiers who would spin shields with symbols on them, hoping to hit the arrow that was next to it.
Bets
The betting opportunities on roullete are numerous. Some are called Split Bet, or cheval in French, where you place your chips to straddle the line between two numbers on the layout. If your roulette prediction is correct, this wager pays 17 times the original amount. Another riskier wager is the Street bet, or trio in French, which involves placing your chips to straddle a row of three consecutive numbers. This type of bet pays 11-1 if you win.