Roulette is a game that is played on a table with a spinning wheel and a ball. Players can choose to place bets on individual numbers, various groupings of numbers, whether the number is odd or even, red or black and other combinations. Each bet has different odds of winning and offers varying payouts based on the probability of hitting each bet type.
Despite numerous theories regarding the origin of roulette, the game was most likely invented in France by 17th-century French mathematician Blaise Pascal as part of his experiments to find a perpetual motion machine. From there, it made its way to America as French double-zero wheels were brought up the Mississippi and westward into gambling dens and casinos where it became one of the most popular games in the world.
Players bet on the outcome of a spin by placing chips on the table in front of them. Then, the dealer spins a wheel and drops a ball that moves through the different numbered sections on the wheel. When the ball lands on a bet, the player who placed that bet wins.
There are several betting combinations in roulette that can be made by players including inside bets, outside bets and announced bets. The Inside bets are bets that are placed on a specific number or a range of numbers based on their position while the Outside bets are bets on groups of numbers or on colors. The announced bets, which are also called Le Tiers du Cylindre, are placed on a larger area of the wheel and cover more numbers than the Voisins du Zero or Les Orphelins.
The Neighbours bet, for example, is a 5-number bet that covers two neighbouring numbers on each side of the selected number. This bet can only be made on the special racetrack section in some online European Roulette variants and requires the player to know the game rules very well.