Roulette is a game played with chips on a green felt table. The wheel has a circular, convex appearance and thirty-six red and black compartments, numbered nonconsecutively from 1 to 36 (two green compartments marked 0 on American wheels). Bets may be placed on specific numbers, groups of numbers or colors. Inside bets have higher payouts but lower chances of winning.

Origin

It’s hard to pin down exactly where roulette originated. But most experts agree that the game first appeared in France around the 1700s. It may have been derived from older games, including portique and hoca. It eventually took its present form with a numbered wheel and betting matrix.

The famous French mathematician Blaise Pascal is often credited with inventing the roulette wheel in 1655. But he wasn’t actually seeking to create a gambling machine when he came up with the idea. Instead, he was testing out various ways to produce a perpetual motion machine. His wheel ended up being very similar to the roulette wheels we use today. From there, the game spread to America. The game made its way up the Mississippi River and into California, where it became popular during the Gold Rush.