Roulette is a casino game that involves spinning a wheel with red and black numbers and a green zero (on American wheels). Players place chips on the table in different areas, each offering a different payout and chance of winning.
All bets fall into two categories: inside and outside bets. The former are placed directly on a number or group of numbers and offer higher payouts but lower odds at winning.
Origin
The history of roulette is a bit of a mystery. It seems to have evolved from other similar games like roly poly, portique, bassette and hoca. Its earliest form was probably developed in 1655 by the French mathematician and physicist Blaise Pascal. He didn’t create the game with gambling in mind – he was actually looking for a perpetual motion machine at the time, but it turned out that his invention was also quite fun to play.
The game gained popularity in the 1700s, and it was during this period that its wheel structure became more or less what we know today. The double-zero was eliminated, and the current layout of numbers 0 to 36 was established. By the mid-1700s, roulette had become the leading casino game in Europe.