Roulette

roo-let', a gambling device. An ivory ball is laid upon a revolving disk about which it rolls until it is thrown into one of thirty-six compartments around the edge. The players bet as to which of the compartments the ball will enter. This they do by laying their money, or chips purchased from the owner of the machine, by the pocket on which they desire to stake their money. If the ball enters some other pocket, the money is lost. If it enters the pocket designated, the banker pays the better thirty-six times the amount of money staked. One or two blank pockets are reserved for the benefit of the roulette banker who owns the machine. It is a fascinating form of gambling by which many fortunes have been lost. See Monte Carlo; Cassino