Roulette, which is the French word for “small wheel,” is a game of chance in which players spin a horizontal wheel. The object is to bet on the particular red or black numbered compartment inside which a small ball will come to rest. The roulette table is marked with numbers to correspond to the wheel's compartments; bets are placed within these numbers. The game is played throughout the world. There are two kinds of roulette tables. The first has a single layout with the roulette wheel at one end; the other has two layouts with the wheel in the middle.

Some say the game was invented by the 17th-century French mathematician Blaise Pascal, or by the Chinese, who taught the game to Dominican monks who later brought it to France. No matter its beginnings, by the late 18th century, roulette was being played in the casinos of Europe. It has long been associated with the casinos at Monte Carlo.

Equipment for Roulette

The main part of the roulette table's numbered layout is made up of 36 consecutively-numbered rectangular spaces, alternately colored red and black, arranged in three columns of 12 spaces each. The number 1 is at the top and 36 is at the bottom. Below the numbers are three blank spaces. There are rectangular spaces marked "1st 12," "2nd 12," and "3rd 12" nearby. (European-style layouts call these spaces "12p" (première), "12m" (milieu), and "12d" (dernière douzaine.) There are six more spaces marked "red" (rouge), "black" (noir), "even" (pair), "odd" (impair), "1–18" (low, or manque), and finally "19–36" (high, or passe). In European-style tables, there is a space for a "0" at the top of the layout. On American-style tables, there are spaces for "0" and "00."

The roulette wheel is made of a solid wooden disk that is slightly convex in shape. Around the wheel's rim are metal partitions called "separators" or "frets." The 36 compartments or pockets between these partitions are referred to as "canoes." These compartments, numbered from 1 to 36, are painted alternately red and black. On European-style wheels, there is a green painted 37th compartment which has a 0. On American-style wheels, there are two green compartments called 0 and 00. The wheel spins effortlessly on a single ball bearing.