Roulette History

Roulette is one of the oldest games in the casino. In 18th century France the game began to develop, as a combination of different wheel and board games from across Europe. Roulette was finally born in Paris, and has been played as we know it today, since at least 1796.

The traditional roulette wheel had 38 pockets, including a '0' and a '00', but there have been a few popular varieties over the years. Over the course of the 19th century, roulette became a mainstay in all of Europe as well as North America. When the game came to The United States, an early popular wheel design consisted of the numbers 0, 00, 1-28, and a pocket with an Eagle (31 pockets total). The payout for a roulette game with this specific wheel, the payout on a straight up bet was 27:1.

In 1843 two men, François and Louis Blanc, traveled from France to Homburg, Germany, a popular casino town. They set up a casino of their own but to compete against the traditional 38 pocket wheels of their competitors, they introduced the 37 pocket wheel with only one '0' space. This set up offered a lower house edge and drew in droves of new players. This new design helped roulette become such an established game throughout Europe, but things were about to change.

When Germany outlawed gambling, the Blanc's were forced to move their operation out of the country to one of the only safe-havens left in Europe: Monte Carlo, Monaco. Here they reintroduced the single-zero wheel and it took off like never before. In no time at all the single-zero design spread across the world and became the standard format, with the exception of North and South America and The Caribbean.

After becoming established in Monaco, roulette took on new and varied reputations. Some people called the game the 'King of Casino Games', a reference to the glamorous city of Monte Carlo. Others said the game was a gift from the devil, with the numbers 1-36 totaling 666, the mark of Lucifer himself. No matter what people thought of the game though, it was clear that Roulette would continue to dominate casinos for centuries to come.

When the game of roulette was brought, by the French, to New Orleans, it began traveling up the Mississippi river, following the same path of Craps westward into the United States. It was here that the final changes were made to the wheel and the layout to speed up the game, simplify the bets, and prevent cheating. This new American style quickly took hold in the western world and made the last major changes to the game. In the early 20th century Las Vegas (using double-zero wheels) and Monaco (using single-zero wheels) ruled the world-wide market of gambling.

In the 1970's, hundreds of new casinos began opening their doors around the world. With the rise of modern gambling establishments, came the rise of roulette. It continued to be a featured part of all of the major casinos, and became entrenched in the minds of modern gamblers.

At the dawn of the 21st century, roulette, along with most popular types of gambling, made the leap into the digital era by going online. As a featured component of the hundreds of major online casinos, roulette can be played anywhere in the world, 24 hours a day, every day of the year.