Roulette History

According to the most sources the game of Roulette appeared in the 17th century. The game was invented by Blaise Pascal who was a French mathematician. Roulette was first played in France. But then the game was not very popular. But already in the 18th century the game of Roulette got very popular, especially in Europe. When the game came to America it was changed, one more section was added. It was double zero, which in fact doubled the house edge. Later there was a period of time when European Roulette had 2 zero sections while American Roulette had three zero sections. But it wasn’t for a long period of time. The only question about the game is about the ancestors of Roulette. Nobody can say from what games it originates because there had never been a game, the main element of which would be a wheel. Some sources claim that the game was invented in Italy, others in China.

Several early versions of a wheel and spinning ball were invented in the 17th and 18th centuries in Europe. The first games that we would recognize as modern Roulette were introduced in Paris casinos around the end of the 18th century. This game contained all of the features that we have today with the one exception. The single zero section was red while the double zero section was black. But the result was only confusion and dissatisfaction of gamblers, that’s why casinos had nothing else, but to make zero sections green.

Later, in the 19th century the game was introduced to French public. The game had only one zero section, which made the house edge much lower in comparison with earlier variant of the game.
But the use of the double zero Roulette wheels survived in the United States and is sometimes called the "American Wheel". But nevertheless both American and European Roulettes are very popular, though most gamblers prefer European Roulette because of its lower house edge.