Roulette history

The roulette name comes form French and is a diminutive for the wheel word. The game originates in 18th century in France where searching for a perpetual motion machine, Blaise Pascal created a primitive form of roulette.

The present form of the roulette game is played since 1796 when it was played at Palais Royal in Paris.

In 1843 Frenchmen François and Louis Blanc created “single 0” roulette wheel style, competing casinos that offered the traditional wheel roulette having a single 0 and double 0 house pockets.

According to Hoyle gambling books dating from 1886, the American roulette wheels had 1 to 28 numbers, a single 0, a double 0 and an American eagle. The house was paying 27 to 1 for every bet on a single figure and if the ball fell on 0, 00 or American eagle, the house took all the bets excepting the ones betted on one of the three.

In the 19th century roulette becomes one of the most famous and most popular casino games, spreading in both Europe and United States of America. In 1860 the German government prohibited gambling leaving Monte Carlo the last legal remaining casino in Europe. Here the single zero roulette wheel become the number one game and eventually was exported to other countries excepting United States where the double zero wheel remained the most appreciated.

In the 20th century the most important gambling locations in the world were Monte Carlo with the European traditional single zero wheel and Las Vegas with the American double zero wheel.

The roulette wheel has pockets numbered from 1 to 36 and colored alternative red or black. The European roulette has a 0 pocket colored in green and the American one has plus another 00 green pocket.

On roulette the bets can be categorized in inside bets and outside bets.

Inside bets are:

- straight up – betting on a single number;
- split – betting on two adjacent numbers;
- street – betting on three numbers on a horizontal line;
- corner – betting on four numbers in a square layout;
- six line – betting on two adjacent streets of three numbers.

Outside bets are:

- 1 to 18 – betting on the first 18 numbers;
- 19 to 36 – betting on the last 18 numbers;
- Red or Black – betting on one of the two roulette wheel colors;
- Even or Odd – betting on an even or odd number;
- Dozen Bets – betting on the first group of twelve numbers: 1-12, the second group: 13-24, or the third group: 25-36;
- Column Bets – betting on all 12 numbers of one vertical line.

The house edge for the American roulette is 5.26% and for the European roulette is 2.70%.