The roulette cylinder was invented in its basic form in the 17th century by French physicist and philosopher Blaise Pascal. He was supposedly trying to create a perpetual motion machine when he came up with the idea.

The wheel consists of thirty-six compartments painted alternately red and black and numbered 1 through 36. There is also one green compartment that carries the number 0 and two green ones on American-style wheels.

Origin

The history of roulette isn’t as clear-cut as one would think. There are a number of different theories surrounding its origin. The most common is that it was invented by 17th-century French mathematician Blaise Pascal as part of his search for a perpetual motion machine. Others believe that it was introduced in France as a combination of the Italian game Biribi and the gaming wheel.

There is also evidence that Roman soldiers played games that were similar to modern-day roulette. These games involved writing symbols on the inside of a shield, setting it down on the ground face-down and placing an arrow next to it. Soldiers would then spin the shield and place bets on which symbol the arrow would point to.

Francois and Louis Blanc are also responsible for eliminating the double zero pocket from the roulette wheel, creating what we know as European roulette today. They took the game to Germany when gambling was banned in France.

Bets

Despite the fact that roullete is one of the oldest games out there, it continues to be a very popular option for players due to the wide range of betting opportunities. For example, there is the Street bet, which costs 9 chips and covers 17 numbers. If you’re correct with your roulette prediction, this wager can pay as much as 17 times your original stake. Another popular type of outside bet is the Voisins bet, which has a different payout structure and is placed on a single number with numbers either side.