Roulette is a casino game that is played with a wheel and ball. It has been a popular choice of game for casino-goers since the 17th century, and it is now available at online casinos worldwide.

The game consists of a spinning wheel divided into 37 compartments, which are numbered from 1 to 36. The divisions are painted alternately red and black and carry the signs 0 and 00 on European-style wheels and a second green division on American wheels.

Each division has a different number of slots that the player can place bets on. When the ball comes to rest on a slot, the player who betted on that number wins the amount of their wager.

There are many different types of bets on the roulette table and these vary in terms of odds and payouts. They can include straight bets, combination bets, odd/even bets and even more.

Most roulette bets have a house edge. It can be as high as 2% or more depending on the game and the table limits.

Before the wheel is spun, players place bets on specific numbers by placing chips on a betting mat in the precise location that indicates the bet being made. These chips have no value outside of the roulette table and cannot be used as currency in any other games at the casino.

After the bets have been placed, the dealer spins the roulette wheel and drops a ball that moves through the numbered sectors. When the ball lands on a winning number, players who bet on that number win the money they wagered.

The wheel is a large, convex wooden disk with metal partitions called frets around its edge. The compartments or pockets between these are numbered in a seemingly random pattern from 1 to 36, but on European-style wheels there is also a third green compartment, which is the zero, and on American tables there are two green pockets on each side of the wheel that carry 0 and 00.

When the spin is complete, the dealer will place a marker on the winning number or numbers and the losing bets will be removed from the table. The winning bets are then paid out and the process repeats.

There are three different betting sections on a roulette table: inside bets, outside bets and announced bets. The inside bets are bets on individual digits or groups of digits and the outside bets are bets on groups of numbers.