Roulette is a gambling game with a long history. The earliest recorded instances date to the 17th century, when it was invented by Blaise Pascal, the French mathematician and inventor.
The game is played on a special table with numbered divisions and a spinning wheel. Players place bets by placing chips on the appropriate section of the table. Each roulette table carries a placard that describes the maximum and minimum bets.
Origin
While there are many fanciful stories surrounding the origin of roulette, most agree that it was invented in 18th century France. It is thought that the physicist Blaise Pascal combined elements of a gaming wheel with an existing game, biribi, to create the roulette mechanism.
A roulette wheel consists of 38 (or on modern European/Latin American tables 37) numbers divided into red and black sections. People place their bets by laying down chips on a betting mat, the precise placement of which indicates the type of bet being made. It is also thought that the game derived from gambling games played by Roman soldiers, who used shields that had symbols on them to spin and bet on where they would stop. However, there is not much evidence to support this theory.
Variations
There are many different roulette variations available for players to enjoy. While some of them preserve the original rules and payouts of standard European roulette, others feature unique twists that enhance the experience and add to the excitement. For example, the Double Ball Roulette game from IGT uses two balls instead of one, but still offers classic betting options and a house edge of 2.7%. Another popular option is Lighting Roulette, a production from Evolution Gaming that relies on multipliers for massive payout potential.