Roullete Brooklyn Moves to Greene Street
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Roullete, a venue for experimental arts that was once located in a TriBeCa loft, is moving to Greene Street in Downtown Brooklyn. The move marks an evolution for the organization, whose founder and artistic director, Jim Staley, has decided to step down after 45 years of leading it. It’s a fitting time to do so, as Roulette has become a vital laboratory for the downtown music scene and helped nurture the careers of musicians including John Zorn, Shelley Hirsch, George Lewis and Ikue Mori.
Founded in 1978 by a group of recent University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign graduates, the theater was named after the French word for “little wheel.” It has remained true to its name throughout its history, although it has moved locations several times. The current venue is much larger than the original space and houses a full stage, as well as an expansive dance studio and an exhibition gallery.
The Rules of the Game
There are different types of roulette games, but the basic rule is always the same: A croupier spins a wheel with numbers that range from 1 to 36 and includes one or two zero pockets. A small ball then comes to rest in one of the pockets, indicating which number the bettors have chosen to win or lose. The croupier pays out the winning bets based on a payout table. The losing bets are removed from the table and the process begins again.
The odds of hitting a single number on a straight-up bet are 37 to 1, but the house pays only 35 to 1. This is how the house makes its money. Similarly, the odds of hitting any of the many combination bets are far lower than their payoffs.
Roulette is played with colored chips, and each player receives a color of his or her own to help differentiate players from one another. The value of the chips is determined by how much a player gives to the dealer. The dealer will then give the player the appropriate amount of corresponding coloured roulette chips.
Unlike other casino games, roulette chips do not have any denomination printed on them. When a player wants to cash out, they simply place their remaining chips on the table and tell the dealer that they’d like to “cash out”. The dealers will then give the players normal casino chips in return.
The house edge in European roulette is lower than in American roulette, and it offers a number of other advantages that increase the player’s chances of success. The En Prison rule, which allows players who have placed even-money bets to collect half of their original stake if the ball lands on 0, enhances the odds for these bets and increases the probability of winning. Additionally, the order of the green and red numbers is different from the American roulette version, which can also improve the odds for these bets.