Aside from gaming online, we really love checking out old Hollywood movies about casinos and all the gaming that takes place there. If there’s one game that stands out above the rest in the movies, it would have to be roulette. Big money moving across the table, all dependent upon a little white ball landing on a certain space around a wheel. That’s stressful, when you think about it!

But that feature of chance is what pulls people back into roulette, time and time again. Did you know that the investor of roulette wasn’t even trying to create an adrenalinic sensation? He was looking at trying to create a perpetual motion machine, way back in 1655. Such a machine breaks what we know about the natural laws of physics, but that didn’t mean that Blaise Pascal wasn’t going to try his best to break the rules and create something new. The quest to build the perpetual motion machine failed, but the roulette wheel became incredibly popular.

It’s gone through some changes, of course: there was the addition of a zero on the wheel, and later a double zero.

Maybe you’ve only seen roulette in the movies, but you can’t skip over this game. It’s fun and lively, even when you’re playing online. Everyone wants to win big from roulette, but not everyone knows how to play the game to their advantage. Here’s what you need to know in order to make roulette a fun experience.

To get started, you just need to place your bet either on a single number, or a range of numbers. It only gets a little more complicated in that you can also specify red or black, as well as an even or an odd set of numbers. If you really wanted to add a flourish, you can specify a high set of numbers, or a low set of numbers. The ball must drop into one of the spaces along the wheel that you bet on for you to win.

Let’s dive into betting a little more. You have inside bets and outside bets; it really is that straightforward! The inside bet is about letting you move your bet over a range of numbers, instead of an outside bet that requires you having to meet the minimum bet every single space.

A good example of an inside bet would be when the hero of the casino movie gets daring and puts their bet on one number. It’s a straight bet and pays the most, but leaves you exposed to the most risk.

You could do a split bet and pick two numbers instead of one, which doesn’t pay out as much (17:1 vs the straight bet of 35:1), but it’s less risky.

A good example of an outside bet would be betting anything on either red or black. You could bet odd or even, which would be 1:1 (even money).

You could even do a dozen bet, where you bet on 12 different numbers in a range around the wheel.

If you’re looking at risk, outside bets are less risky than inside bets, but they don’t give you the big money swings you’ll find with inside bets.

The challenge of roulette is waiting for you, and it’s a challenge you should explore. There is nothing wrong with checking out roulette and making some small outside bets until you start learning more about the system. The element of chance and the rhythmic motion of the wheel join forces to create a game that’s timeless, fun, and downright daring. After all, Hollywood told us so!

By Maya