Roulette
This historical figure known as Blaise Pascal is said to be the man who invented the first wheel that was used in the game that is these days known as roulette. He was not intending to invent a tool for use in a wagering game, he actually had intended to create a perpetual motion device, but history happens the way it does and before long, the roulette wheel came to be used in the game we know now. By combining the famous wheel with a board game that came out of Italy and another wheel game which originated in Great Britain, the game was made into a French classic. It took off rapidly in Paris during the 1600’s and quickly rose to extreme levels of popularity when the upper class Frenchmen of the day began to view it as their game of choice. The luxurious feel of the game has never seemed to leave and even though its very name translates to “little wheel”, roulette is still extremely popular all across the world as one of the premiere offerings in any casino. The flash and dazzle is all still there as a timeless testimony to the glory days of the French Empire. Today, though, we have two primary versions in operation around the world. There is the primarily continental European version that involves 37 pockets and a single zero or the Western Hemisphere version which offers players double zero pockets and a total of 38 pockets overall.
By being angled the way it is, a roulette wheel spins easily and once the dealer sets it into motion, they will next start the ball rolling around the outside track in the opposite direction of the spin. Players will place their wagers on the different pockets that they feel the ball will land on and they are awarded their winnings based on not only being correct, but what the house odds are for their wagers. Each number on the wheel corresponds with a certain color and they are laid out according to a particular logic. For example, the numbers one through ten and nineteen through thirty eight have odd numbers in red and even numbers in black – the only two colors on a roulette wheel aside from the green zero pockets. The opposite color scheme is applied to the rest of the numbers. Players will place their wagers on whether or not the ball will land on a specific color, a range of numbers, even or odd numbers or some combination thereof.