Roulette History

Roulette in its present-day appearance is a rather recent casino pastime.  While roulette wheel games have probably been around since mankind first developed the wheel the first game that we would know as Roulette was developed only in the seventeenth century.  Francois and Louis Blanc invented the European Roulette roulette wheel (the single zero wheel) in 1842.

In France gambling was against the law so the developers of Roulette, Francois and Louis Blanc moved to Germany where the game became well-liked.  When Germany outlawed gambling Louis Blanc accepted an request to move to Monaco to establish and operate a casino.  The ensuing casino turned out so well that it allowed Monaco to set the rules for Roulette for all of Europe.

The wheel hasn’t changed a lot since then.  One alteration was the addition of the color green to the zero and double zero.  In the early days the zero was red and the double zero was black, this resulted in some confusion for the participants so the color was changed to green to get rid of the confusion.

In Europe one more modification was executed with the introduction of the “En Prison” option.  When playing on a European wheel and a zero is the winning number participants who bet on even-money have two choices: the player can get back one half of the original bet, or they are able to make the “En Prison” option.  When the En Prison alternative is selected the bet is set aside and the following spin of the wheel determines the outcome of the bet.  In the event that the wager wins the players have their funds returned (less the normal payoff) if not the funds are lost.  If a zero is the winning number again the funds are again set aside awaiting the next spin of the wheel.

Roulette turned glamorous once Europe’s wealthy and famous started to go to Monte Carlo to amuse themselves.  The casino was sophisticated, the players dressed in formal attire and huge quantities of cash were wagered.  These items all combined to make Roulette the the worlds most well-known casino game.

The double zero Roulette wheel became the standard Roulette wheel in the U.S.  When individuals refer to the “American wheel” they are talking about the double zero wheel.  The double zero wheel was popular in Americas old west especially during the California gold rush era.

Roulette gaming in America is not as prevalent as it is in Europe.  Casinos in Europe obtain 50% of their earnings from Roulette gambling while American casinos only obtain 5% of their earnings from Roulette gambling.  The main reason is that European casinos have a house edge of only 1.35% while in America it is 5.26% (European casinos use a single zero roulette wheel and have the En Prison alternative while in the United States they use a double zero wheel and don’t offer the En Prison option).