Roulette (French for little wheel) is a casino game in which players place bets on a single number, various groupings of numbers, the color red or black, whether the number is odd or even, and more. A croupier spins a wheel and throws a small ball into one of 36 colored and numbered compartments. If the ball lands in a winning slot, a player receives his or her payout. Unlike other casino table games, roulette chips do not have a denomination printed on them; instead, each player gets a different color of chip that indicates the value of the bet.
The game is named after the French word for little wheel and was invented in the 17th century by Blaise Pascal, a mathematician who was trying to create a perpetual motion machine at the time. He soon discovered that the random distribution of numbers on a roulette wheel offered an excellent opportunity to take advantage of chance.
Although roulette is considered a game of chance, it is possible to beat the house edge by employing a number of simple strategies. These include playing outside bets, which cover multiple numbers and are less likely to lose than individual number bets, and betting on a column or a dozen, which offer higher odds of winning.
To be successful at roulette, you must first understand the game’s rules and procedures. When a round begins, the dealer clears the table of losing bets and pays winners before starting to accept new bets. The croupier then spins the roulette wheel and throws the ball, announcing “no more bets!” to close the betting for that round. The process is repeated for each and every round until all the winning bets have been paid.
For more than 25 years, the TriBeCa loft that once housed Roulette has crammed its long, tall main room with celebrated composers and improvisers of all stripes. But now the venue is moving out of its home, a sign that even experimental arts venues must adapt to survive. The upcoming move from TriBeCa to Greene Street in downtown Manhattan will mark another evolution for a venue that has forged the careers of many young musicians. The New York Times recently spoke to some of them. Among them was Jim Staley, the trombonist and composer who founded the venue in 1978. He reflected on the change in environment and how his work as an artist has changed as well.