Roullete is a casino game where players make bets on different numbers or groups of numbers. The winning bets are rewarded according to their betting odds. A player may place bets on a single number, various groupings of numbers (such as red or black, odd or even, first or second dozen), or the color of the roulette wheel – green or black.
The history of the game dates back more than 300 years and is largely attributed to 17th century French mathematician Blaise Pascal. The premise of the game is that a spinning wheel will land on one of the 36 possible outcomes, or “pockets.”
A Roulette wheel consists of a solid, slightly convex disk with 36 compartments that are painted alternately red and black. There is also a single, double zero (on European-style wheels), and on American tables a separate, extra green compartment marked 00.
Before the wheel spins, players place chips on a betting mat in front of them. The croupier then rolls a ball into the center of the wheel. If the ball lands in one of the pockets, players win.
The game evolved in the gambling dens of the United States, and it was there that cheating by both operators and patrons became rife. Because of this rampant corruption, the American version of the game differs from the European-style version in its layout and wheel construction.