History of Roulette

Roulette as we know it is a fairly recent addition to those games available at casinos.  Games that utilized the wheel have been in existence for a long time (likely developed soon after the wheel itself was developed), but the first game that players would recognize as Roulette wasn’t enjoyed at casinos until the 17th century.  The European Roulette wheel (the single zero roulette wheel) was developed in 1842 by Louis and Francois Blanc.

Since gambling had been made unlawful in France the inventors of Roulette, Francois and Louis Blanc relocated to Germany there their Roulette game grew to become popular.  After Germany also banned gambling Louis Blanc said yes an invitation to move to Monaco and set up and run a casino there.  The resulting casino was an enormous hit and its triumph was such that it enabled Monaco to set out the standards for Roulette for all of Europe.

The Roulette wheel hasn’t changed too much since then.  A significant change was the addition of the color green to the zero and double zero.  In previous days the double zero was red and the zero was black, however this often led to confusion so the green color was introduced to remove any confusion.

A further modification to roulette was made in Europe when the “En Prison” alternative was introduced.  When playing on a European wheel and a zero is the winning number players who wagered on even-money have two alternatives: the player can get back one half of the original bet, or they are able to take the “En Prison” option.  When En Prison option is selected the bet is set aside until the following spin of the wheel.  If the bet wins the players have their funds returned (less the usual payoff) if not the money is lost.  When zero again wins the cash is once more placed aside until the next spin of the wheel.

The game of Roulette grew to become Europe’s most sophisticated activity once the rich and well-known began to go to Monte Carlo to amuse themselves.  The casino was sophisticated, the players attired in formal clothing and large quantities of cash were wagered.  All of this served to launch Roulette as the worlds most well-known casino game.

The standard Roulette wheel in The U.S. has become the double zero wheel.  If individuals refer to the “American wheel” they are referring to the double zero wheel.  The American wheel was very popular during the California gold rush in the American west.

In Europe Roulette gambling is a lot more popular than it is in America.  European casinos derive 50% of their earnings from the game of roulette compared to United States casinos that obtain just 5% of their earnings from the game of roulette.  The disparity between the attractiveness of the game of roulette in the United States and European casinos is that in Europe they use a single zero wheel and offer the En Prison option while in America they use a double zero wheel and don’t offer the En Prison option (the house edge is 1.35% in Europe compared to  5.26% in the U.S).