Roulette History
Roulette is the oldest game that is still being played in casinos today. Though the history is a bit sketchy, there are some interesting tales in all the sketchiness. Stories are told of Romans using the wheels of overturned chariots to spin during games of chance, though it is not clear if any wagering took place. But even though this took place in Italy, the origin of the word is French (meaning "little wheel") and the first shaping of the game that eventually became the modern-day one we are used to started in France.
Here is where more of the sketchy history comes in. Though we know that the game was first formed in France, it could have been through one of two different ways, depending on who you believe. One version of the tale is that the famous French scientist Blaise Pascal (who wrote extensively on the mathematical laws of probability) invented the game. The story goes that he took a retreat and gambled in a Paris casino. He then used this knowledge to invent the first true roulette game in 1657.
The other tale also dates to the mid 17th century, but involves a monk. It is said that an unnamed French monk was bored with the dull grind of daily monastic life and invented the game of chance to cure the boredom. Not many details are known about this version; therefore the Pascal tale usually gets credit for the game.
The earliest-known version of the game as we know it today was called 'roly-poly' and appeared in Great Britain around 1720. Unfortunately, the stuffy British government of the day decided gambling was immoral and outlawed roly-poly and most other betting games less than 20 years later. Though a simplified variation called 'even-odd' (or EO for short) was invented by Beau Nash, the government quickly squashed that game as well.
The familiar wheel of today's games first appeared back in the game's country of origin, France, in the late 1700s. The famous black and red numbers were there, along with the general layout of the table. The casino advantage was over 5% at this time, due to the fact that there were two zero numbers on the wheel- a single and a double (nobody could win on either the 0 or 00). In 1842 the brothers Francois and Louis Blanc invented the first single-zero wheel, which reduced the casino advantaged to only 2.70%. Because of the halved advantage, this version caught on very quickly, and is still played all over Europe today.
The original double-zero wheel was introduced in North America by Frenchmen in New Orleans. This was around the turn of the 19th century, and of course gambling was not yet regulated like it is today. So many greedy casino owners, knowing that most in the area were ignorant of the new game, tried to cheat their patrons. They used wheels with 31 possible pockets, but only paid 26-1 odds if someone won. Luckily people caught on and this type of cheating soon stopped. People went back to the original double-zero wheel, although the single-zero wheel has never caught on. This is inexplicable, because of the low house odds on the single zero as compared to the double-zero wheel.
Due to the fact that the 00 wheel is still popular stateside, it is known as the "American wheel", and the version of roulette played with it is called American or North American roulette. The 0 wheel is known as the "French wheel", with the version of the game being played named European roulette.