Roulette is a classic casino game based entirely on luck. Despite its simplicity, it is wildly popular at online and land-based casinos throughout the world. To play, players place bets on a special table and watch as the croupier (or dealer) throws a ball into a spinning wheel. The ball then bounces around the wheel until it settles into a pocket that marks a specific number. If you made a bet on that number, you’ve won.
Roulette was invented by the 17th-century French mathematician Blaise Pascal and has a long and complicated history. While it has never achieved the same popularity as other games like blackjack or video poker, it is a staple at most European gambling establishments and still draws huge crowds in Monte Carlo and elsewhere in Europe.
The wheel consists of a solid wooden disk slightly convex in shape, with thirty-six compartments or pockets painted alternately red and black and numbered nonconsecutively from 1 to 36. Two green compartments labelled 0 and 00 appear on American roulette wheels but not on European ones. In the past, some professional gamblers claimed to have developed systems that could give them an edge in roulette but in reality no betting system can convert a subfair game into a profitable enterprise.
In American casinos, roulette has one of the smallest followings for any game and is often pushed aside by other more exciting offerings like slot machines, video poker, or blackjack. However, in Europe, it is one of the most popular casino games and a mainstay at Monte Carlo and other luxury venues.
There are many variations of this classic game, with different rules and layouts for the board. Some of the most common are listed below:
Carry Bet: Also known as a square or carré, this is a bet that covers four numbers by placing your casino chip at the corner of the layout. The payout for this is 1:1.
Cheval: This is a split bet, which involves placing one casino chip to straddle the line between two numbers thereby covering both of them. It pays out 17-1.
Dozens Bet: This is a bet that the winning number will fall in either the first dozen on the layout, the second dozen, or the third. This bet pays out 2-1.
Outside Bet: In this bet, you’re wagering that the ball will land on any of the 18 odd or even numbers (1-18 and 19-36) or a high number (19-36). If the ball lands on a zero, you lose.
La Partage: This is an optional rule in roulette that can be very helpful to players. It reduces the house edge on even-money bets from 97,3% to 98,65% and can make or break your session.