Roulette is a game based on chance that has a long history and many variations. It is played on a table with a numbered layout and a rotating wheel that has colored numbers and pockets. The game’s rules are simple and easy to understand.
Players place their chips on the roulette table until the croupier announces “No more bets.” Then they watch as the ball bounces around the wheel and settles into a pocket.
Origin
Although there are many fanciful theories about the origin of roulette, it is known that it developed in the early 18th century from older casino and gambling games. It is first mentioned under its present name in 1716 in Bordeaux. Its ancestor is a simple no-wheel number betting game called either cavagnole or biribissi or, more often, hoca. It was supposedly invented by the French mathematician Blaise Pascal, or brought to France by Dominican monks from China. It was then modified and given its current form. Until 1900, encyclopaedias usually referred to the European version of roulette, which has 38 numbers, as “Italian Roulette” or Big Roulette and a smaller version with just 18 numbers as German Roulette or Small Wheel.
In the beginning, players placed their bets by laying chips on a special table.