Roulette is a game in which players place chips on a table. They do this until the croupier says “No more bets”.
The wheel has compartments numbered red and black, plus one green zero on American-style wheels. It also has a row of squares marked 1-18, 19-36 (low or manque), and odd or even.
Origin
It is hard to pinpoint the exact origin of roulette. However, many of the fanciful stories circulating about it include claims that 17th-century French mathematician Blaise Pascal invented it by accident during his attempts to produce a perpetual motion machine. Others point to supposed ancestors including English games such as Roly Poly and Even-Odd and Italian games like Biribi and Hoca. The game we know as roulette today first emerged in 17th century France from a combination of these older games.
Variations
Roulette game variants offer different payouts and special rules. Some games have higher house edges while others feature bonus features that boost players’ winning potential. If you’re a new player, stick with the European roulette variation as it has a friendly house edge of 2.7%. If you want to play for high payouts, try Lightning Roulette from Evolution Gaming or Triple Bonus Spin Roulette from IGT. The latter is a three-wheel game that pays out up to 1:12,000 for a straight bonus win.