Roulette is a casino game in which players bet on whether a ball will land on a particular number or group of numbers. The rules of roulette are simple and can be learned by anyone who wants to play the game.

Roullete is a French word that means “little wheel.” The game of roulette, also known as roulette, was developed in Europe from an earlier version of hoca and portique and was first mentioned in 1716 in Bordeaux. It quickly gained popularity in the gambling dens of new territories as well as in Monte Carlo and other European resorts.

The game is played on a table with a spinning wheel and a betting mat. Before the wheel is rolled, people place chips on the betting area to mark their bets. The bets can be on a single number, various groupings of numbers, or the colors red or black.

Bets on a single number typically cost a fixed amount of money and pay out if the number is hit. The payouts vary, depending on the odds of hitting a single number and how many chips were placed to make the bet.

When a bet is placed on the table, the dealer places a marker or buck on that number. When the ball hits that number, the bets on it are cleared off the table and the winning bets are paid out. The losing bets are re-cleared before the next round of betting begins.

Betting options on a roulette wheel include straight bets, split bets, street bets, line bets, column bets, and corner bets. There are also special betting combinations called announced bets.

Unlike other casino games, roulette is a game of chance. It has a built-in house edge, but it is possible to win money playing the game if you know how to play.

The betting layout on a roulette table features rows of six or 12 numbered pockets marked with red and black. On American wheels, there is also a green division numbered 0 and two green compartments on opposite sides of the wheel.

A roulette wheel is a spindle-shaped wooden disk with a ring of dividing partitions around its outer edge. These partitions have numbers painted on them ranging from 1 to 36, alternately red and black. On European-style wheels, there is a 37th pocket that has the signs 0 and 00.

It is important to remember that the odds of a straight-up bet on 38 numbers, including the zero, are 37 to 1, but the house pays only 35 to 1. This discrepancy between the true odds and the payouts makes roulette a drain on your wallet.