Roulette as we are familiar with it is a relatively recent addition to the games offered by casinos.  Games that employed the wheel have been around for a long time (likely invented not long after the roulette wheel was itself developed), but the first game that we would know as Roulette wasn’t offered at casinos until the 17th century.  The European Roulette wheel (the single zero wheel) was invented in 1842 by Francois and Louis Blanc.

Since gambling was illegal in France Louis and Francois Blanc (the developers of Roulette) relocated to Germany, where the game grew to become well-liked.  When Germany banned gambling Louis Blanc accepted an invitation to go to Monaco to establish and manage a casino.  The resulting casino proved so successful that it allowed Monaco to establish the rules for Roulette for all of Europe.

The wheel hasn’t changed a great deal since its introduction.  A important change was the addition of the green color to the double zero and zero.  Before the introduction of the color green the zero spot was black and the double zero spot was red, however the led to a little confusion with those at the table so the color green was introduced to remove the confusion.

Another modification to Roulette in Europe was the introduction of the “En Prison” option.  When playing on a European roulette wheel and the winning digit is a zero players who placed even-money bets have an option; they are able to take back one half of the initial wager, or else they can place the bet “En Prison”.  The En Prison option sets the wagers aside pending the next spin of the wheel.  The players will have their money returned (less the payoff) in the event that this next spin wins, on the other hand if the bet loses the money is lost.  In the event that zero wins again, no decision is made, the roulette wheel is spun once more.

The game of Roulette became glamorous when the rich and well-known people of Europe began to visit Monte Carlo to amuse themselves.  All of the essentials were there; the players dressed in smart attire, the casino was elegant and vast quantities of money were wagered at the tables.  All of this was responsible for the establishment of Roulette as the worlds most familiar casino game.

The standard Roulette wheel in America has become the double zero wheel.  The double zero wheel is often called the “American wheel”.  The double zero wheel was popular in Americas old west particularly in the California gold rush era.

Roulette gaming in the United States is a lot less prevalent as it is in Europe.  Roulette in European casinos is the reason for 50% of revenues while in America it represents only about 5% of earnings.  The main cause is that European casinos have a house edge of only 1.35% while in America the house edge is 5.26% (in Europe they use a single zero roulette wheel and offer the En Prison alternative while in the United States they use a double zero wheel and don’t have the En Prison alternative).