Roulette is a casino game where players place bets on the outcome of a spinning wheel. The wheel has compartments (called frets or canoes) that are red or black and numbered nonconsecutively from 1 to 36.
There are different types of bets that a player can place, each with different odds and payouts. The different betting combinations are called inside bets, outside bets and announced bets.
Origin
Roulette is an old game with many fanciful stories of its origin. The most accepted story is that it was invented in 17th-century France by Blaise Pascal, a math wizard and genius, as an experiment while trying to create a perpetual motion machine. Others believe that it was based on an ancient Chinese board game where players arranged 37 animal figurines into a magic square with numbers totaling 666. This was brought to Europe by Dominican monks and modified slightly into what we now know as the modern version of roulette. Regardless of its true origin, it is one of the most popular casino games in the world.
Variations
Roulette is a game that has many different variations. There are those that follow the European format with a single-zero wheel and a friendly house edge for players, while others have additional bets and special betting rules that make them more complex to play. If you are a beginner, it is best to stick with the simple European roulette games and avoid those that have extra bets and rules that may confuse you. Other variations include French roulette and Double Action Roulette, which uses a wheel that has two concentric rings. In addition, the bets are identified by their French names instead of English ones.