The game of roulette has offered glamour, mystery, and excitement to casino-goers since the 17th century. The rules are simple enough for casual players to understand, but the game offers a surprising level of depth for serious betters. The best strategy involves understanding the odds and betting wisely. The game can also be lucrative, as long as you stick to a predetermined budget and avoid the temptation to dip into winnings for future bets.
A game of chance played on a table marked off in sections affording various bets and having in the center a revolving dishlike device (roulette wheel) into which a small ball is spun to come to rest finally in one of the compartments numbered 1 through 36, containing either a single or double zero, and having other sections for various groups of numbers, colors, whether odd or even, high (19-36) or low (1-18). The name of the game comes from its French origin. Outside a casino, the game is often called simply “roulette”. The word has also been used to describe a number of devices for making lines of marks, dots, or perforations: a rouleau for marking or engraving; a roulette for cutting the gummed edges from sheets of postage stamps; a device for separating short cuts in a roll of film.
Prior to the spinning of the ball, people place bets on what they believe will happen by laying down chips on a betting mat, with precise locations on the mat indicating the bet being made. Bets on six numbers or less are termed “Inside bets” and those on 12 numbers or more are called “Outside bets”. The chips are then placed on the betting table with the dealer then spinning the roulette wheel to determine the outcome of the bets.
Despite the myths, there is no way to guarantee winning a bet in roulette by using some secret system. The odds of a particular number showing up on the wheel remain the same, regardless of whether it showed up on the last spin or not, or whether it has shown up multiple times in a row. This is known as the law of probability.