Roulette is a game in which players place chips on a betting table before the dealer spins a wheel and rolls a ball around it. Each bet type has a different house edge, and players must choose carefully before placing their chips.
Once the loser bets are cleared from the table, play begins with a new round. Many people sell betting systems that claim to beat the odds, but there is no skill involved.
Origins
It is a bit difficult to pinpoint when roulette originated. Most historians agree that it was invented by French mathematician Blaise Pascal in 1655 as a part of his quest to create a perpetual motion machine. However, some also believe that it derived from English games such as roly poly, bassette and even-odd, and the Italian game of biribi.
Regardless of the exact origin, it is clear that roulette was one of the most popular gambling games in Europe prior to the 1860s. The Blanc brothers reworked the roulette wheel to get rid of the double-zero pockets and made it as we know it today. The name roullete is a combination of the French words for little wheel and low table. It is also a descendant of the Latin word for rotella, meaning little wheel.
Variations
When it comes to roulette, there are several variants that offer different payouts. Some variants use special rules and bets while others are more straightforward. If you want to find the best roulette game variant, look for one that follows the European format and offers a friendly house edge. You should also look for games that have high payouts. For example, Lighting Roulette from Evolution Gaming features multipliers up to 500x and the Triple Bonus Spin Roulette from IGT pays up to 1:12,000 for a straight bonus win.