Roulette is a casino game in which a small ball rolls around a revolving wheel and people place bets on which number or color it will land. It is one of the oldest and most popular gambling games. It has a high house edge but can be profitable if played with a proper strategy. It is a good choice for beginners who want to play a fast-paced and exciting casino game with high odds of winning.

The roulette wheel consists of a solid wooden disk slightly convex in shape with a metal separators or frets around the circumference and thirty-six pockets (called canoes by roulette croupiers) containing alternately red and black compartments numbered nonconsecutively from 1 to 36. On European-style wheels, a 37th compartment painted green carries the sign 0, while on American wheels two green compartments on opposite sides carry the signs 0 and 00.

Players make bets on various numbers, groups of numbers, the colors red and black, and whether a number is odd or even. In addition, a player may choose to bet on the first, second or third dozen, or on whether the ball will land in a particular arrondissement on the roulette table.

When all bets have been placed, the dealer spins the wheel and the ball is released in the opposite direction. As the ball slows down and begins to fall into a pocket, if it hits a bet it is the winner and the payout is determined by the amount of chips wagered. The dealer then removes the losing bets and places new bets.

A roulette wheel is a complicated device and its operation depends on many mechanical variables, such as the depth of the pockets and their placement on the roulette wheel, the height of the wheelhead and the curvature of the bowl. This makes prediction difficult. Despite this, some professional gamblers have been able to gain an edge by seeking out rigged roulette wheels and betting opposite the largest bets.