Roullete (French: “little wheel”) is a casino game that consists of a table with several sections affording the players a variety of betting opportunities, in the center of which is a revolving dishlike device called a roulette wheel into which a ball is spun to come to rest finally in one of the 37 or 38 compartments marked off alternately in red and black. The wheel also has a supplementary green compartment, labeled as a double zero. The game was derived in France in the early 18th century from older games such as hoca and portique, and achieved its present form about 1790. Fanciful stories about its invention abound, including by the 17th-century French mathematician Blaise Pascal and by Dominican monks.
The player places chips on the numbered portion of the table, which are arranged in groups (dozens and columns) that offer different odds of winning. The most common bets are a single number, various groupings of numbers, and the color red or black. The symmetry of the number placements on the roulette wheel creates some other interesting bets. For example, all the low red numbers are on one side of the zero and all the high black numbers are on the other, creating a so-called second dozen that pays out 2 to 1 if won.
The dealer spins the wheel and rolls the ball around it, while observing the players’ bets to prevent any cheating or additional advantages. The James Bond strategy is one of the best bet types for reducing the house edge, but it requires a large bankroll to be successful.
