Roulette is on the face of it a simple game of chance, bets are made
on the resting place of a ball spun in the opposite direction to the
rotatating roulette wheel. There are either 37 (European) or 38 (American)
possible positions the ball can land in, wagers can be made on single
numbers, various groups of numbers, black or red infact in theory
you could bet on every outcome but although you would win you would
end up out of pocket.
A brief history of Roulette
So where did it come from, like many games the origin of Roulette
is lost in the mists of time, its quite possible the game is almost
as old as the wheel itself. Some histories claim it originated in
the far east probably China mirating to Europe with trade and there
were certainly spinning wheel and ball games in Europe during the
17th and 18th centuries. Other stories tell of Roman sldiers using
a chariot wheel in a game of chance. The Earliest game we would recognise
as Roulette was probably played in the French casinos towards the
end of the 18th century, it had the 38 numbers but the 0 and 00 they
were originally red and black later changing to green to avoid confusion
on the red and black bets. This version of Roulette migrated to America
in the early 1800s but the high house take 5.26% was often increased
by the casinos reducing the games popularity. A major change took
place when Francois and Louis Blanc, introduced the very first single
zero roulette wheel in 1842. The single ‘0’ wheel completely
changed everything about the game, particularly the House’s
edge, which was now reduced from 5.26% to a 2.70%. They originally
set up in Germany and when gambling became illegal there as it was
in France they set up on Monaco thus were born the famous casinos
of Monte Carlo and it became the home of European Roulette and the
playground of the rich and famous.
To learn how to play Roulette visit our Roulette
Rules page and to improve your chance of success visit
our Roulette Odds
and Strategy page then join one of
the sites above and make your fortune! Good Luck.