Roullete, meaning “little wheel” in French, is a casino game in which a ball is spun around a roulette wheel and bets are placed on what number the ball will land on. Players can bet on a single number, various groupings of numbers, the color red or black, or whether the numbers are high (19-36) or low (1-18). Prior to the spin, players place their chips on a betting mat, the precise location of which indicates the bet being made. The bets are then cleared off the table and the winning bettors are paid.
Unlike many casino games, the rules of roulette are not complicated. The wheel has a red and black section, and the zero is represented by a green segment. The odds of hitting a particular number on the roulette wheel are fixed and unchanging, no matter how many times the wheel has been spun.
While it is possible to win a small amount of money playing roulette, the house edge is built-in and no skill can overcome it. The best strategy is to play only within your budget and to avoid making bets that require more than a single chip. Start by placing bets on the outside groups (rows of three or more numbers) which are cheaper to make and have a higher probability of hitting.
A sprinkling of online websites claim to offer systems for beating roulette, but none can be relied upon. The game is based on pure chance and the results of any given spin are independent of any previous spins. Probability, therefore, does not work as a system for winning because the odds of hitting a specific number do not change if the same number has appeared 5 times in a row or never.
Roulette has long been a popular casino game in Europe and is still one of the top attractions at Monte Carlo. In the United States, however, the game is not nearly as popular and is losing ground to other casino games like video poker and blackjack. It is still played in some gambling dens, but even then it draws only a tiny fraction of the crowds that baccarat or poker draw. The decline in roulette’s popularity has largely been due to the proliferation of newer casino games.