Roullete (French for “little wheel”) is one of the casino games with a reputation for glamour, mystery and excitement. It’s also a game that has a surprising level of depth and strategy for those who are serious about their bets.
A dealer, or croupier, throws a ball into the spinning roulette wheel and players place bets on which number slots it will land in when the wheel comes to rest. Bets can be placed on individual numbers, groups of numbers or the whole table. The dealer then pays out the winners and clears the losing bets before starting a new round.
Each roulette table carries a placard describing the minimum and maximum bets permitted, so choose a table that offers the best chance to win within your budget. Each player gets a colored chip that corresponds with their bet amount. These are marked to help the croupier and other players distinguish bettors. The dealer will ask what denomination you want to designate each chip for.
Once you’ve decided where to put your chips, wait for the dealer to announce, “No more bets.” Then, watch as the ball bounces around the wheel and finally settles into a pocket that marks a specific number. If you made a bet on that number, you’ve won!
The roulette cylinder was invented in the 17th century by Blaise Pascal, a French physicist, philosopher and inventor. But it wasn’t until the early 1800s that the game became popular in casinos and gambling dens across Europe.
Unlike American roulette, where there are two green compartments for 0 and 00, the European version of the game has only one green compartment. But the difference doesn’t make much difference in terms of winning odds.
There are many theories about how to improve your chances of winning at roulette. Some people swear by a system of betting opposite the largest bets, and others claim that watching the other players at a casino can give them a clue about which numbers are most likely to be won. But the fact remains that no betting system can make roulette a more fair game than it already is.
The only way casinos could stop prediction is to call “no more bets” before the croupier starts spinning the roulette wheel. But that would limit play and deter casual gamblers. So, they pay a premium to a few professional players and keep trying to improve the roulette wheel design in hopes of creating a more predictable game.