Roulette is a gambling game in which players place chips on a betting mat. The precise location of these chips indicates the bet being made.
The roulette wheel has red and black sections along with a green section labelled 0 or 00. The odds of winning a bet are proportional to the total number of chips placed.
Origin
The exact origin of roulette is not completely clear. Some people believe that it originated in ancient Rome. There is evidence that Roman soldiers played games that were similar to modern-day roulette. These games involved spinning shields that had symbols on them. When the shields stopped, a soldier would bet on the symbol that would appear in front of an arrow. Other games that are thought to be precursors of roulette include portique, hoca, bassette, and roly poly.
In the 17th century, Frenchman Blaise Pascal is credited with inventing roulette. He is also credited with creating the rotelle wheel, which eventually became the European roulette wheel as we know it today. As more and more Europeans made their way to America, roulette found its way over with them.
Variations
There are a lot of different variations of roulette. They differ in their rules, payouts, and house edge. Some of them are more popular than others. For example, European Roulette has a single-zero wheel and a friendly house edge. Other variants, like the French Roulette, contain more 0s and offer additional betting options, which increases its house edge to 2.7%. If you’re a new player, it’s best to avoid these games and stick with the standard European roulette game.
Some versions also feature bonus features, such as Lighting Roulette from Evolution Gaming, which offers multipliers of up to 500x your bet or Triple Bonus Spin from IGT, which pays out up to 1:12,000 for a straight bonus win.