Roulette, a game that originated in France in the eighteenth century, today enjoys a great deal of popularity at land-based and online casinos worldwide. The credit of inventing the roulette wheel goes to Frenchman Blaise Pascal. The rules of roulette have been derived from a number of English wheel games such as Ace of Hearts, Reiner, and Roly Poly and Italian board games such as Biribi and Hoca. The present form of the game appeared in Paris in the late eighteenth century. Today, online casinos offer several varieties of roulette such as Mini Roulette, European Roulette, Live Dealer Roulette, and French Roulette.

Roulette Wheel and Layout

The European Roulette wheel is different from the American Roulette wheel. While the former has 37 slots bearing the numbers 0 to 36, the latter has an extra 00, which increases its house edge considerably and makes it less popular than European Roulette. The game layout comprises two betting areas—the inside betting area, which comprises individual numbers, and the outside betting area, which comprises colours, odd/even numbers, columns, and number groups.

Roulette Bet Types

Roulette is a game of multiple betting options. Players can place two major types of bets— Inside Bets and Outside Bets. Inside Bets are Straight Up bets placed on single numbers, which pay 35 – 1; Split Bets placed on two numbers, which pay 17 – 1; Street Bets that pay 11 – 1; Corner Bets that pay 8 – 1; and Basket Bets that pay 6 – 1. A Basket Bet is a bet placed on 0, 00, 1, 2, and 3, but it has a 7.89% house advantage. Players can also place a Double Street Bet, which pays 5 – 1. Outside bets are bets placed on Red or Black colours and Odd or Even numbers. If players win these bets, they will be paid even money. Dozens Bets and Column Bets are placed on 12 numbers and pay 2 – 1, but players will lose this bet if the ball lands on the zero or double zero.

How to Play

Since roulette is a pure game of chance, it is one of the most entertaining games at casinos. To start playing roulette, players need to place a permutation and combination of bets. They should choose their bets wisely as each bet has a different house edge. The roulette wheel is then spun and payouts awarded as per the results of the game.