The game we know as Roulette is a relatively new addition as far as casino games go.  Although someone probably developed a game employing a wheel nearly as soon as the wheel itself was developed it wasn’t until the seventeenth century that a game that we would recognize as Roulette was presented to the planet.  The European Roulette roulette wheel (the single zero wheel) was invented in 1842 by Francois and Louis Blanc.

As gambling was made against the law in France the inventors of Roulette, Louis and Francois Blanc relocated to Germany there their Roulette game became well-liked.  After Germany followed France and banned gambling Louis Blanc moved to Monaco to say yes to a request to build and run a casino there.  The resulting casino was a huge hit and this triumph was such that it allowed Monaco to establish the standards for Roulette for all of Europe.

The wheel hasn’t been altered a lot since its introduction.  A important modification was the introduction of the green color to the double zero and zero.  In previous days the zero was black and the double zero was red, but this often led to confusion so the green color was added to get rid of any confusion.

In Europe one more modification was executed with the introduction of the “En Prison” option.  When playing on a European roulette wheel and a zero is the winning number players who wagered on even-money have two alternatives: they can get back one half of the original wager, or they can take the “En Prison” alternative.  If the En Prison option is chosen the bet is set aside awaiting the next spin of the wheel.  If the wager wins the players get their cash returned to them (with no payoff) if not the cash is lost.  If a zero is the winning digit yet again the cash is again placed aside awaiting the next spin of the roulette wheel.

After the rich and well-known people of Europe started to frequent the casino at Monte Carlo the game of Roulette grew to become very sophisticated.  With the elegant casino, the rich and famous dressed in formal clothing and all of them having very large quantities of money to wager, the stage was ready.  All of this was responsible for the establishment of Roulette as the worlds most recognized casino game.

The double zero wheel has become the standard Roulette wheel in the United States.  The term “American wheel” is often used when talking about the double zero Roulette wheel.  The American wheel was popular in Americas old west in the California gold rush.

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