A Brief History of Roulette, Just So You Know

A Brief History of Roulette, Just So You Know

Brief History of American Roulette & European Roulette

Firstly, roulette is a casino and gambling game that given name from a French word that means ‘small wheel’. There are two types of the game between the American and European versions of the game.

The brief beginning of roulette started in the 17th Century in France. It was then devised by Blaise Pascal, the mathematician who was supposedly inspired by perpetual motion devices. French emigrants imported the game into the USA and into the first American casino that appeared in New Orleans in 1800. Finally, in 1842, Frenchmen Francois and Louis Blanc added the ‘0’ to the roulette wheel in order to increase house odds. 

American roulette

American’s wheels have two “0’s”, zero and double-zero, which increases the house advantage to 5.3%. American game uses “non-value” chips, which means that all chips belonging to the same player are of the same value determined at the time of the purchase, and the player cashes in the chips at the table. In this form, the croupier collects and distributes chips by hand.

European roulette

European roulette has only one zero, giving the house an advantage of 2.7%. It uses different kinds of chips, which are standard casino chips of differing values as bets. This aspect can make the game more confusing for both the croupier and the players. Traditional European roulette tables are much larger than American tables. Moreover, the croupier a long tool called a rake uses to clear out the chips and to distribute winnings.