Roulette (or roulette as it’s commonly known) is a casino game in which players make bets on which numbers or groupings of numbers they think the ball will land when spun around by a dealer. Once dropped into one of the compartments, if it matches what was predicted (whether that means an odd or even number or color), they have won!
Originating in France and introduced as an official game by 1790, roulette quickly gained popularity throughout Europe and America and quickly became one of the most sought-after gambling establishment games. The name derives from French for “little wheel.”
At any casino roulette table are arranged different kinds of bets with differing odds, each offering its own house edge. A player can limit this risk by opting for outside bets which offer greater odds but pay out less than inside bets.
Roulette wheels consist of a slightly convex disc covered by metal partitions known as frets that alternate red and black paint colors, housing 36 compartments numbered consecutively from 1 to 36 on European wheels; on American ones there may also be an additional green compartment carrying 0.
The physics of roulette balls have an enormous effect on their behavior. Ivorine balls were traditionally used, but this has since changed to resin or Teflon replicas which closely resemble ivory in size, weight and material composition. Due to these changes in size, weight and material content the ball makes more revolutions on its journey before coming to rest resulting in unpredictable jumps that miss number slots; using smaller, lighter ceramic balls helps mitigate this instability to some extent as they travel faster thus decreasing chances of hitting an unexpected digit.