WATCH THAT BALL! TAKING ROULETTE FOR A SPIN
A good argument can be made that there is no purer form of casino gambling than the game of roulette. What can be more down to Earth than a spinning wheel going one way, a small ball (about .6 of an inch) going the other, and gamblers betting on which of 37 or 38 pockets the ball will fall into.
It is not a game of skill, but it is a game of action, chance, and instinct. You play with your gut, bet on your lucky number (maybe double zero if you were a fan of the 1960s football star Jim Otto, who famously rocked 00 on his uniform), and hope for the best. Or else you play it safe and go for a color – red or black – which is close to an even money bet.
The Legendary $4.75M Spin
While roulette is the perfect, social, fun way to gamble, serious money can still be won. It was proven in 2017 when a man by the name of Pedro Grendene Bartelle set his sights on the number 32. The son of a billionaire sandal magnate in Brazil, he and his gambling pals laid an enormous pile of chips on the table in a Uruguay casino. The chips added up to $135,000. The sum was bet on lucky 32.
A crowd formed around the table. Everyone held their breath as the croupier dropped the ball above the spinning wheel. Then it landed exactly where it should have: Number 32. A roar rose from the spectators, and Bartelle was suddenly $4.75-million richer. No doubt, it was a celebratory night for him and his friends.
From Paris to Monte Carlo
Roulette, played for all kinds of stakes, has been going strong since the late 18th century. That’s when it became the hottest gambit in Paris.
It is said to stem from an earlier version of the game known as Birbi, which has Italian origins, and a British game called EO, which stood for Even Odd. But the game as we know it seems to be a French innovation. It spread across Europe during the 19th century and reigned as the offering of choice in Monte Carlo.
Various versions of it have one zero or two. European roulette sports one zero and a house edge of 2.7 percent. American roulette has two zeros – single zero and double zero – with a house edge of 5.26 percent. Café Casino offers both versions, which is an advantage of playing online. In a brick-and-mortar casino, of course, you can only play the iteration that is offered where you happen to be.
Briefly, an American innovation had zero, double zero, and American Eagle. But that was short-lived as the Eagle shifted odds to favor the house more than the players would tolerate. The game, of course, is a Las Vegas staple and has been enjoyed by online players since the 1990s.
Roulette in Movies & Pop Culture
Movies that feature great scenes with roulette include the classic Casablanca, Rush Hour 2, where the game is played for comic effect, and Iron Man, in which we see the charming Tony Stark gambling high at roulette. The film Croupier stars Clive Owen as a suave and tuxedoed casino croupier who gets into a dramatically bad spot. And then there is the moment in Passenger 57 where Wesley Snipes, during a tense phone conversation, warns, “Always bet on black.”
He’s referring to himself, but the line comes from the game of roulette in which players can wager on colors or numbers. Here is how things play out as the bets get placed.
How to Bet at Roulette
The table features a layout with numbers in rectangles, ranging from zero and double-zero (in the American version) to 36. The odd numbers are in red and the even are in black. That makes for a total of 37 or 38 numerical bets. You can bet on an individual number. If it hits, you get paid at a rate of 35 to 1. This is known as a straight-up wager. Wager $100 and you will win $3,500 when the ball drops into your chosen pocket.
Along the edge of the table layout are the odds for bets, where you can hedge things a little bit. Among the likeliest to hit is a bet on black or red. You are betting on one group of 18 numbers to win. A variation of this, also available on the roulette layout, is betting on 1 to 18 or 19 to 36. However you cut these wagers, they all pay even money. If you bet $100, you will win $100 when your number or color comes in.
You’ll see that the numbers are set up with three to a row horizontally and 12 vertically. Each one is in its own rectangle. In the casino, this is handy as it allows you to place chips down to bet on two numbers (also known as a “split,” it paya 17 to 1), three numbers (called a “street,” it pays 11 to 1), four numbers (nicknamed a “corner bet,” it pays 8 to 1), five numbers pay 6 to 1, six numbers pay 5 to 1, and a 12 number bet (either the first, second or third dozen numbers or else one of the three columns of numbers) pays 2 to1.
Once all bets are down, the small ball drops above the roulette wheel. It spins on a track, going in the opposite direction of the wheel before running out of steam and dropping into one of the pockets. Casinos often have a tote board alongside the table, showing previously hit numbers. While some players use past results to influence the bets they make, every outcome is independent of what has occurred previously.
Online vs Live Roulette
When playing the classic version of online roulette, you click on the spin button and the ball takes off counter to the spinning wheel, just like at a roulette table in a brick-and-mortar casino. One difference, however, is that the wheel and ball are animated. The winning pocket gets decided by a random number generator, and the animation plays out to that result. It employs a complex algorithm that totally randomizes the number. The game moves quickly, you play solo, and you can do it whenever you want.
Live roulette, played in brick-and-mortar casinos, of course, is with an actual wheel and ball setup. The wheel is a mechanical device and should be kept in good working order. Online at Cafe Casino, players get the flexibility of playing via a live feed with a croupier keeping the action going.
Either way, the game is a blast to play, and the betting possibilities are varied.
High-Risk Tales: Ashley Revell’s Gamble
While roulette is always enjoyable – as it has been for some 235 years – the experience is clearly enhanced when life changing money comes your way. Such was the case for a daredevil of an Englishman named Ashley Revell. He cashed out completely and sold everything he owned (even, reportedly, his clothing). Then the guy flew to Las Vegas, with money at the ready.
Armed with $136,000 and trailed by a TV crew, he went to the Plaza Casino in downtown Las Vegas. Revell bet it all on red. A crowd watched the ball spin atop the wheel. Spectators went wild when it dropped into red 7. Luckily for Revell, he did not take the advice of Wesley Snipes and believe that black always wins.
The casino paid off and he strolled away from the table with a cool $270,000.
While most of us play for low-limit thrills and get to win or lose a few dollars at the game, Ashley Revell described his roulette spin as “the most amazing moment of my life.”
As for myself, win or lose, I’m happy with a comped steakhouse dinner after a night of taking on the wheel.
About the author:
Michael Kaplan is a journalist based in Brooklyn, NY. He is the author of five books. The most recent one is Advantage Players: Inside the Winning World of Casino Virtuosos, Master Strategists, and Mathematical Wizards. Kaplan has written for publications that include the New York Times Magazine, Wired, and GQ. He is a senior features writer with the New York Post, writes the gambling column for Cigar Aficionado, and wrote an article on baccarat queen Cheung Yin “Kelly” Sun that is being developed into a feature film with the actress Awkwafina attached to star as Kelly.
