The roulette is one of the first and most popular casino games. The name roulette originates from French, meaning "A small wheel". The roulette is made of 37 or 38 separate pockets, each numbered and colored, in which the ball must land.
The main pockets are numbered between 1 to 36, and each colored either black or red when the first pocket is red. There are also additional pockets numbered either 00 or 0 and colored green. A European Roulette has usually only one green pocket, while the American roulettes have two. When betting on a single number you win 35 times your bet plus the original bet, coming to a total of 36 times of the bet. In a game of roulette you can bet on numbers, combinations, colors and odds or evens.
The first roulette was invented by the French mathematician Pascal in the 17th century. Later on the number 0 was added to increase house odds. The roulette reached the US during the 18th century, when an additional 00 was added to further increase house odds. During the beginning of the 18th century the roulette has been spread throughout the world and became one of the most popular casino games.
The two types of roulette, American and European, differ mostly in the advantage they give to the house, a 2.7 percent advantage in a European roulette and 5.4 percent in an American roulette.
Tom Smith, Editorial staff.
September 27, 2005