Roulette

A roulette wheel consists of a spinning disc with graduations around the rim that spin around the bottom of a bowl. A ball is rotated around the outside of the bowl until finally the ball and wheel come to rest with the ball in one of the compartments. The divisions around the wheel are numbered from 1 to 36 in a seemingly random pattern and alternate in red and black. In addition, there is a green division with the number 0.

At American tables there is only a second additional green division with the designation 00, and this makes the American version of roulette a financially worse offer than the European game. Before rolling the ball, people place bets on the number that will come up by placing chips on a betting mat. The exact position of the chips shows the bet made. Roulette is a game of French origin and at a traditional table the French terms in betting are still used in English-speaking countries. However, most of the US tables use English terms and a slightly different mat style.