Roulette is one of the most popular games played in modern Casinos. It is also one of the oldest Casino games. Roulette is somewhat unique amongst modern table games in that it employs a mechanical device as the key element of the game. The mechanical device is the large and very distinct Roulette wheel that is mounted horizontally on the end of the table. The hollow of the wheel has numbered pockets ranging from 0 to 36 - and 00 in American Style Roulette.

In Roulette the bets are placed on an area of the table marked with separate boxes, with each box containing individual numbers. This marked area is called the game layout, and you may place bets on any particular number, any 4 adjacent numbers, a column or a dozens bet.

Strangely enough the roulette wheel has become one of the most fixed representations of gambling throughout the world, without the game ever becoming all that popular in America. Perhaps to say that is strange is culturally centric, as its popularity is unquestioned across the pond.

There is a difference between American and European roulette though, and it lies in the wheel. An American wheel has both a 0 and a 00 (double zero) thus creating a higher house advantage, and discouraging many. Single 0 wheels may be found in North America, but often require an unreasonable minimum bet. Online roulette wheel's may be either American or European, but of course this only matters if the online casino keeps it's odds straight.

The wheel is used to determine the outcome of a game of Roulette. Once the bets have been placed on the table, the wheel is set to start spinning and a small - usually metal or ivory - ball is spun onto the wheel in the opposite direction to that of the spinning wheel. The ball will lose speed and eventually stop in one of the numbered pockets in the Roulette wheel. The number the ball stops on is the winning number.