Roulette is a casino game which has been played for centuries. It was invented by a French mathematician named Blaise Pascal. The game is played on a wheel and the winning bets are determined by physics.
The wheel is made of a solid wooden disk with metal separators around its rim. The rim is convex and the spindle is perfectly balanced, spinning smoothly without friction. It has thirty-six compartments painted red and black on European-style wheels, and two green compartments on American-style wheels.
Players can bet on a single number, multiple groups of numbers or a combination of these. Each bet brings different odds and payouts based on its probability of being won.
There are many variations of this game, but most offer the same chances to win. The house edge on roulette bets varies by the type of wheel, but it is significantly lower than in craps.
Bets are divided into inside bets and outside bets, and there are also announced bets which are special betting combinations. Announced bets are often found on French roulette, but they can also be found in some online European roulette games.
One common bet is a ‘5 and the neighbours’ bet which covers the five numbers 5 and 24 on one side of the board, and 16 and 10 on the other. The payoff for this bet is 5-2, which means that the player wins if the ball lands on any of these five numbers.
Another bet is a ‘Le Tiers Du Cylindre’ bet which covers 12 numbers, from 27 to 33 on the wheel. The player must place 36 chips to complete this bet.
In addition to the Voisins du Zero and Le Tiers Du Cylindre bets, there is also the ‘Racetrack’ bet which involves betting on a group of six numbers. This bet pays 3-1 and is only available on certain online European roulette variants. It is a popular bet because of its low house edge and high winnings.