Roulette is a game of chance, and there are no betting systems that can beat the odds. But you can play smarter by learning about different types of bets and their payout odds.
You can place a Straight Up bet on a single number, or an Outside bet on a group of numbers with lower payouts but higher chances of winning (except when zero comes up). Players use color chips to keep their wagers separate from each other.
Origin
Although fanciful tales point to supposed ancestors including Roly Poly, Ace of Hearts and Even-Odd, and the French games hoca and biribi, the truth is that roulette is an amalgam of two strands of gaming tradition. Its circular form suggests the medieval Wheel of Fortune, turned by Fortuna to decide fates. Its mathematical precision, backed by the existentially random bounce of a ball, creates an environment in which wealth and ruin, joy and despair, hang on the spin of the wheel.
Roulette first appeared in New Orleans in the 1810s and became an established part of the city’s gambling traditions. Its popularity in America stemmed from its ease of learning, range of betting scales and dramatic swings of fortune. The game’s French roots and its reliance on a traditional table codified these practices into the recognizably global game of today.