The Basics of Roullete
Roullete, which is French for little wheel, is a casino game in which players make bets on the outcome of a spin of the roulette wheel. Each bet is made by laying chips on a betting mat with precise placement indicating the number and type of bet placed. The chip value varies from $0.10 to $500 and the table betting limits are marked with colored borders. Each color represents a specific denomination of bet. Players must meet the minimum and maximum bet requirements of the table before placing their bets.
In the United States, the original double zero wheel made its way from New Orleans up the Mississippi River and into the western gambling dens where makeshift games had already been set up. In order to prevent cheating by both the players and the casinos, the wheel was moved to the top of the table and the betting layout was simplified. These changes increased the house edge considerably.
Roulette is one of the oldest casino games and is popular in many countries around the world. Although it doesn’t draw as large a crowd as baccarat, it still draws more players than slot machines, video poker and blackjack. It is even more popular in Europe where it is a staple of Monte Carlo and other luxury casinos.
The roulette cylinder was invented in the 17th century by Blaise Pascal, a French physicist and philosopher. He was studying probabilities in his search for a perpetual motion machine and the results of his experiment took him by surprise.
Originally, the cylinder was made of ivory but today’s professional roulette balls are usually Teflon or resin with a synthetic ivorine appearance. The size, weight and material of the ball have a significant effect on its behavior on the roulette track. A small, light ceramic ball tends to jump more unpredictably before it lands on a number than a bigger, heavier ivorine ball.
While there are countless systems that claim to beat the odds in roulette, most of them are scams. While a few lucky people may be able to profit from these scams, most players can’t find an edge that will allow them to win consistently.
There are two variations of roulette: European and American. The American version has a second green pocket marked 00 which increases the house edge substantially. The European version has only a single zero and offers the best payout if a straight bet wins. Some casinos also offer a version of the game called French roulette which has an additional rule known as “en prison” whereby an even-odds bet that loses to a zero pays out half the amount won. This significantly improves the player’s odds but it isn’t universally offered. Other casinos will only offer a simple version of the game without any extra rules. These versions are generally cheaper but they have lower winning odds.