Roulette is one of the easiest casino games to learn and play. It also offers excellent opportunities of winning to those who are willing to make a study of it.
The centerpiece of the roulette table is a rotating wheel that contains 37 or 38 numbered slots. A croupier spins a small ball in the direction opposite to the wheel, and it will eventually slow and drop into one of the slots. Your task as the player is to predict where the ball will land. You do so by placing a bet on a field of corresponding numbers. If you are right, you will win at fixed odds. If not, you will lose your wager. Nothing could be simpler, or potentially more frustrating.
The French Evolution
One of the earliest forms of roulette was called “Roly Poly.” Popular in England in the 1720s, it involved rolling a ball around a wheel with slots, two of which were marked for the banker. Players wagered on which slot the ball would land in, losing their bets if the bank’s slot came up.
When the British Parliament outlawed Roly Poly in 1739, a new game replaced it called E/O, or “Even and Odd.” This game featured a wheel with forty unnumbered black and white slots, one of each colour designated for the banker. The dealer collected losing bets and paid off winners at even odds, making it strictly low-profit game. When a black or white bank slot was hit, losses were collected, but no winners were paid, thus creating a very small house advantage.
