Roulette is a casino game that has been around for centuries and is still as popular today as ever. It is a fun and easy game to play, but it can also be a complicated affair for the advanced player.

Roullete – The Wheel, The Mid-Matrix and The Optimist

The roulette wheel is the heart of the game and the most exciting part of the experience. It consists of a solid wood disk slightly convex in shape. It is set on top of a spindle which spins it smoothly in an almost frictionless manner.

It has thirty-six compartments, numbered nonconsecutively from 1 to 36. These pockets alternately hold red and black numbered numbers. A 37th pocket, painted green, carries the sign 0 in European style wheels and the sign 00 in American style wheels.

There are two main types of bets in roulette: “inside” and “outside.” Inside bets can be placed on specific groups of numbers, odd or even, a color (red or black), or a combination of these options.

Outside bets are the ones that allow you to wager on various positional groupings of pockets based on their positions on the board. These bets are cheaper and have a higher chance of winning.

The Optimist – The High or Low Bet: This bet is the most impressive to the casual roulette player, but the payout is a little small. It’s a bet that pays out for any number from 1-18 and 19-36, but if you lose you’ll be paid back at a rate of 6:1 instead of the usual 3:2.

The most important thing to remember about the optimist is that it is not the only option on the table. A variety of other bets are available, and the only real way to win is to correctly predict the outcome of each spin.