Many people who like casino gaming have loved the game of roulette for centuries. The game is easy to learn, fun to play and almost totally a game of chance. The object of the game of Roulette is to pick the number that will be the winner on the roulette wheel. You will also get to choose between the colors, bet on different number combinations or even choose whether the number will be odd or even. Some people think that the game is an easy one, however with all of the many bet variations and number possibilities it may not be as easy as it seems. Roulette is a true game of chance, where every time you bet on any color you stand a chance to win 50-50, you can also win any number of number combinations.
There are two different Roulette wheels in use today, one of the wheels is called the European Wheel and has 37 slots numbering from 0 to 36, with a house edge of 2.63. The other wheel in America has 38 numbers with the double zero (00). Because it added the (00), the American Wheel also increased the edge of the house to 5.26 percent.
The layout is the same as the game that was originally created in 1842; the table has two betting areas. The inside betting area has the numbers and the outside area has boxes for color betting (red and black), for odds and evens or for the columns and also different groups of numbers. There are many different variations of betting opportunities available for the player of roulette.
The game of Roulette has been known in all of Europe as the “King of Casino” game, the oldest casino game that has been played by the rich and famous, kings and queens, and touted as one of the most popular games ever. Later to become a great favorite among the online gaming enthusiasts, Roulette has made a mark on the world unparalleled by any other game.
Roulette Rules
Before you can get started playing the game of Roulette, you will want to buy the chips that are special to roulette. To keep down arguments between the players, everyone receives chips of a different color. When you have completed the game play, you will receive real casino chips to take to the cage, and the chips at the table you are at. Remember to cash in your chips at the table because you cannot cash in Roulette chips at the cage.
The tables, where Roulette is played, will have both a minimum and a maximum bet. You will be unable to combine the bets you make on the inside with the bets made on the outside areas of the table. If the table has a minimum of $5, that does not mean you can make a 3 dollar bet outside and a 2 dollar bet inside, it means that you will be betting $5 on the inside and $5 as your outside bet.
When you are making inside bets you will have several options to choose from. You may make a straight up bet on a number or you can sit on the line to make a bet on a combination of the numbers. The payouts for making inside bets each have different payout rates. For the Straight Up bet you get a 35 to 1 rate when you bet on a single number. A Split bet pays 17 to 1 and is a wager between the two numbers that you have chosen by putting your chip on the line between them. You can also make a Street bet or a Line bet that pays 11 to 1 and is made by putting a chip on the vertical line that separates the inside and outside area. The Quad bet, also called the Corner bet, pays 8 to 1 and is done by putting your chip so that it is in between the four corners of the numbers that you are betting on. You can also bet a Basket bet which is a five number bet on the number zero, the double zero and 1, 2, and 3. This bet pays 6 to 1 and has a house edge of 7.89, making it one of the worst bets in the game of Roulette. The Double Street is a bet on 6 numbers and it pays 5 to 1. For this bet you place the chip on the line that separates the inside and outside area, just like the street bet except that it should also straddle the row below and above.
The outside bets are made in the boxes that are around the numbers, you can bet on the black, red, odd, and even. You can bet your chips on the boxes on the layout. There are dozens of bets that can be made on the 12 numbers. You can place a wager on boxes such as 1-12, 13-24 and 25-36; these bets will pay you 2 to 1. If zero or double zero comes up, you will lose the bet. Column bets are also bets with 12 numbers, but instead of 12 numbers that are consecutive they are the numbers in one of the 3 vertical columns and are usual made in the boxes located at the bottom of your layout. The bet will pay 2 to 1 as well.
The dealer of the game requires keeping the wheel going all the time, even in between spins. They must spin the ball in a direction that is opposite of the direction of the wheel. This will cause the ball to spin and jump until it lands on a number. The dealer then marks the winning number with his marker, during this time you will not be allowed to place the bet for the next bet till the marker has been removed.
Roulette History
The game of Roulette is probably the oldest game in casino history, which still exists today. The word “roulette” means “little wheel” and has a long history that can be traced all the way back to the seventeenth century in France. The scientist and mathematician Blaise Pascal is credited for the invention of the game. However, in other stories the inventor is an unknown monk who created the game to relieve the boredom of being a monk. In yet another story, the inventors were the Chinese who sold the game to the Dominican monks. Whatever the true story may be, we know that this was a very popular game played in many Parisian casinos.
The first roulette wheel was constructed in France, it was believed to be a variant to the game Roly Poly, the Ace of Hearts and Hoca and BinBi. The game was played in many places and was a favorite of the fashionable rich set.
In 1842, two French men, Francois and Louis Blanc brought the “0” to the wheel to give the house better house odds. There is even a legend about Louis Blanc, in which he found that by adding all of the numbers from 0 to 36 together, they equaled 666. He believed that because of this it meant the devil had somehow given him the secret of roulette in return for his soul. After Roulette had been brought to America, in an effort to have even better house odds, a “00” was brought into the game. Some time later the “00” was replaced by the American Eagle, which was aimed to demonstrate the patriotism of the casinos.
Later, the casino became the game of choice for the glamorous; many famous people were playing the game, which enjoyed great popularity in Europe. In America the game did not catch on, because the odds were better in Europe than in America.
Roulette made a major comeback with the invention of online gaming; it became very popular, especially with the websites with the single “0”, which makes the game easier and much better for the gambler.
