Roulette is a casino game that involves betting on different groups of numbers. The more numbers you bet on, the higher your odds of winning but the lower the payouts. There are three main types of roulette bets: inside bets, outside bets and announced bets. All of them have a different payout, but they all depend on the same probability of winning.

Before the game begins, players lay down chips on a betting mat with precise locations that indicate the bet being placed. Each roulette table carries a placard explaining the minimum and maximum bets. The number of chips wagered on a particular bet depends on the type of bet and can range from $5 to $1,000. The game is a popular one in Las Vegas and other gambling dens around the country.

The game has an interesting history. It’s said to have been invented by the 17th-century French mathematician Blaise Pascal as part of his experiments with perpetual motion. However, other sources suggest that it was developed by a French monk or by the Chinese and brought to France by Dominican monks.

Despite the fact that the game is based solely on luck, it has some complex strategies and a number of theories about its rules. Some of these have a basis in probability theory, but most are purely theoretical and don’t improve your odds of winning by much more than coincidence.

There is one practical strategy, though, that can make you a more profitable roulette player. The James Bond strategy, as named for its use by the spy, is a bet that involves multiple bets to increase your chances of winning but requires a substantial bankroll to make it work.

The wheel itself is a solid wooden disk slightly convex in shape. The rim contains metal partitions, called frets or compartments, that are painted alternately red and black. Thirty-six of these compartments are numbered nonconsecutively from 1 to 36 on European-style wheels while the two green compartments on American-style wheels bear the symbols 0 and 00. The roulette croupier spins the wheel, then drops a ball into one of the compartments to determine the winning number. Once the ball is in a compartment, the winning bets are paid out to the winners.