Roulette > Magazine > Casinos > Puerto Rico
At the Wheel
At the Wheel
Roulette > Casinos > Puerto Rico
By:
Puerto Rico’s casinos offer a variety of table games, from blackjack to Caribbean stud poker. Some might seem unfamiliar to you, yet there is one game no one can mistake -- roulette.

From the French word meaning “small wheel,” this casino game is universally known for its colorful wheel. Devised in 17th century France by the mathematician Blaise Pascal, roulette has been nicknamed the “King of the Casino Games” for its association with the glamour of Monte Carlo casinos, and movie buffs remember the roulette wheel at Rick’s Café Americain in the 1942 movie Casablanca.

The wheel has 37 or 38 separately numbered pockets into which a ball must land. The main pockets are randomly numbered from 1 to 36 and alternate between red and black colors. There is also a green pocket numbered 0 and, in the U.S. but not in Europe, a second green pocket marked 00. Players place their bets by placing chips on the numbered pocket. The croupier spins a white ball in the opposite direction of the spinning wheel. When the ball is ready to leave the track and fall onto the spinning wheel, the croupier calls, “No more bets.” The ball then falls onto a number of the wheel, the croupier places a marker on the winning number, and bets are paid accordingly. If a player bets on a single number and wins, the payout is 35:1, meaning that for each dollar bet, he or she wins an additional $35.00. Other betting option with lower payoffs, include bets on multiple numbers in various combinations or ranges, on all odd or all even numbers, or by color.
Map Box