Roulette is a casino game that relies entirely on chance. Players can make a variety of bets on specific numbers, groups of numbers, red or black, and odd or even. They can also bet on dozens (1-18 or 19-36). These bets pay out 1-1.

A croupier throws the ball into a spinning wheel and players continue to make bets until he announces no more bets. The ball settles into a pocket on the roulette wheel and the winner is declared.

Origin

Although the origin of roulette isn’t completely clear, it is thought that the game originated in 17th century France. Its creator is believed to be French mathematician Blaise Pascal, who created the game in his search for a perpetual motion machine. It is also believed that the game combines elements of English games such as Roly Poly and Even-Odd with Italian games like Biribi.

Other theories suggest that the game originated in China and was then introduced to Europe by Dominican monks. However, there isn’t sufficient evidence to support this claim. A more likely explanation is that roulette developed as a result of a combination of other gambling games, including those played by Roman soldiers using shields with symbols on them. This game eventually evolved into the roulette wheel and table that we know today.

House edge

House edge is the casino’s advantage over players and reflects the difference between the real probabilities or odds of winning and the payouts for each type of wager. Knowing the house edge can help you make smarter betting decisions and minimize your losses when playing roulette for extended periods of time.

With an American double-zero wheel, the house edge is 5.26 percent and with a European single-zero wheel it’s 2.70 percent. However, there are a number of rules in the game that can reduce this edge.

The En Prison and La Partage rules, for example, cut the house edge on even-money bets to 1.35%, the lowest in roulette. However, this doesn’t mean that you will win every bet – streaks of seven or more losses do happen.