Online roulette offers a variety of different betting options and payoffs. Understanding the house edge and disciplined bankroll management can increase your chances of winning.
A roulette wheel has compartments painted alternately red and black and numbered 1 to 36, with a single zero on European wheels and two green pockets marked 0 on American ones.
Variations
European Roulette is the most common version of the game, but there are a number of variations. Some of these are based on the different kinds of bets that can be placed, as well as the way they’re positioned on the table. Announced bets, for example, are found in French roulette but don’t appear on the standard single-zero European wheel. These bets have their own French names and are marked on the roulette layout. These bets aren’t as popular as other bets such as the Odd/Even bets or Racetrack bets.
Bets
In the game of roullete, players have various outside and inside bets to choose from. The most risky wager in the game is a Street Bet, which requires players to place chips on the line that separates two numbers. This bet pays out at a rate of 17 to 1 and was invented more than 300 years ago by Frenchman Blaise Pascal. The next most popular bet is a Dozens bet, which pays out 2-1 and has the same odds as a red or black wager.
Origins
There are many theories surrounding the origin of roulette. The most popular is that it was invented by French math wizard Blaise Pascal in the 17th century while he was working on a wheel that would demonstrate perpetual motion. Others claim that it was created by a French monk or that it originated in China before being brought to Europe by Dominican monks. The game also has ties to the old Greek gambling game of aletheia. Some scholars believe that soldiers played a game that was very similar to modern-day roulette while serving in the Roman army.
Other theories point to a French carnival game that used a wheel and is referenced in published regulations for Quebec (or New France) in 1758. Then there are the Italian games of Roly Poly and Biribi which also share similarities with modern roulette.