Roulette is one of the most iconic casino games, offering glamour and excitement to players since it’s inception in the late 1700s. It’s a game of luck, but despite this, there’s a surprising level of depth for serious gamblers that can increase their chances of winning. The James Bond strategy is one such method that’s ideal for beginners and combines different bets to improve the odds of winning, but requires a decent bankroll.

The game of Roullete, named after the French word meaning ‘little wheel’, is believed to have been developed in 17th century France from earlier games such as hoca and even odds and the Italian Biribi. Its popularity spread from the casinos and gambling dens of Paris to Europe and then on to the United States, where it became a major attraction at land-based establishments.

There are three main variations of the game, American, European and French, and each has subtle differences that you should be aware of before putting any money on the table. The roulette wheel itself is a solid wooden disk slightly convex in shape and is divided by metal separators, called frets or pockets by croupiers, into thirty-six compartments coloured alternately red and black with a single green pocket for the zero on European-style wheels and two green ones on American-style wheels.

A bet is made by placing a chip on a section of the roulette table known as an “outside” based on the options available. Outside bets offer lower payouts than inside bets, but the probability of winning is higher as the numbers are closer together.

A successful basket bet pays out 6 to 1. A successful tiers bet pays out 15 to 1 and a successful column bet pays out 2 to 1. A successful straight up bet wins 35 to 1, while the zero, which can be bet on independently of any other number, costs 17 chips and pays 392 to 1. All winning bets remain the property of the player until they are requested to remove them by a croupier.