Roulette has been around for several centuries and has traveled the world to come to casinos in the form we know them now. There are different opinions as to where it came from and which version was the first. Here we explain about all of them and study the full development of the roulette game.

Evolution of Roulette

Mid 17th Century	Hoca and “E-O”
1655	French Roulette
1843	“0” European Roulette
Late 1855	“00” American Roulette
1990s	Online Roulette

The Origin of Roulette Games

The tradition of using a spinning wheel in gambling dates back to the Greco-Roman period when Roman soldiers spun a cart wheel to determine a winner. The mechanism of this “game” also included an arrow pointing to one of 10 winning places on the floor. The Greeks used a shield instead of a cart wheel, but the idea of the game itself remained the same – the wheel or shield stayed put and the marked space on the ground against an arrow was considered the winner.

Roulette wheel game is sometimes believed to be a hybrid of two popular games:

The original roulette is believed to be a hybrid of Hoca and even-odd games.

• Italian “Hoca” game
• English “E-O” (means “Even” and “Odd”)

The Hoca game was very common in Europe in the mid-17th century. Even Cardinal Mazarin, the French Prime Minister, opened casinos offering Hoca games with the aim of raising money for the Treasury. The game used a round table on which a ball was rolled. Players could bet on any of the 40 cups on the table. Three of the 40 zero-marked cups were house cups, giving the house a 7.5% advantage over the players.

Together with Hoca the game “E-O” was played in England. A round table with 40 sections marked “E” and “O” (= even and odd) was also used: 20 of them with the letter “E” and another 20 with the letter “O”. There were also two bar places all winning bets for the casino. The game had quite a high house edge but was still very popular with players. Also find out how Playing Roulette Online and How it’s Most Fun.

European Roulette: Where it all began

The history of the European roulette game, originally called French roulette, dates back to 1655 when French scientist Blaise Pascal developed it as a perpetual motion machine. The name of the game means “little wheel” in French. At first it was just a game played in monasteries but soon after it moved to all French casinos. The game was considered entertainment for glamorous and intelligent visitors.

Blaise Pascal is a famous French scientist and philosopher. He made major contributions to mathematics, geometry and physics, particularly research into fluids, pressure, vacuum and the construction of the first mechanical calculators. Blaise Pascal was also known as an active member of a religious movement and the author of several philosophical works. In the gambling world, the infamous scientist is believed to be the creator of the roulette wheel, or at least the man who introduced the principles of a spinning wheel used in casino roulette games today.

In 1843, Francois and Luis Blanc opened the first German casinos in Hamburg to feature the single zero roulette game (the roulette with only one “0” slot). There is a legend that Francois and Luis Blanc exchanged their souls for the mystery of roulette. This legend is often followed by the fact that if you add up all the numbers on the roulette wheel, you get the number 666, which is the devil’s number.

In the 1860s gambling was banned in Germany so the Blancs moved to Monte Carlo and made it the true European gambling hub. In Monte Carlo, single zero roulette became very popular and although the roulette version with an extra 00 slot and a higher house edge was well known among gamblers, it was rarely played in casinos.

The History of American Roulette

American roulette layout is now used by all casinos around the world.

The late 1800s brought the game to America, where it became incredibly popular with those who liked to gamble and believed in it. Roulette was very popular in the gold rush days. But most casinos in the United States started offering double zero version of French roulette game as it was more beneficial for casino owners. Since then, the French single-zero roulette game, widely played in Europe, has traditionally been called “European roulette” and the double-zero game played in American casinos “American roulette”.

According to historians, some versions of American roulette use the numbers 1 through 28 and 0, 00 and the sign of the American Eagle. All of the extra pockets (0, 00 and the American Eagle) were house pockets, meaning the casino won all bets on the table if the ball landed on any of them. The payout for any single number bet was 21 to 1.

The first American roulette wheels reportedly had an additional mark of the American Eagle, which has always been a symbol of American freedom. The Eagle was a house slot, meaning the house edge was even higher than modern American roulette. This tradition soon disappeared and all roulette wheels had only zero house slots.

The game of roulette quickly spread across the United States and underwent several changes. When the game became a good source of income for cheaters, it was decided to change the design of the table and the roulette wheel was put on to prevent cheating. The table layout has also been simplified, making it easier for players to place roulette bets and for croupiers to make payouts. Eventually, the American roulette layout was accepted by most casinos around the world.

Modern Roulette Games

Today, roulette games can be found not only in land casinos and other gambling establishments, but also on the internet. The first internet casinos Gaming Club and InterCasino were founded in 1995 and 1996 respectively. These years are considered the starting point of online roulette play. Besides the traditional single and double zero roulette games, players can now win money in new roulette variants that can be found in both land-based and online casinos. These are multiball roulette played with up to 3 balls on the wheel; no zero roulette game with missing zero slot; and mini roulette version with a small wheel and the possibility to bet on only 12 numbers. Also read our post about ”What are the tricks of roulette”.

Today more and more players prefer roulette games on the internet. And it is not surprising, because online gambling has many advantages, some of them are:

• Playing roulette online is very convenient as you can start the game from any place where the internet is accessible.
• You don’t have to dress up or follow any casino etiquette
• The rules of the game are always available.
• You can pause the game and return to the roulette table at any time.
• Online roulette games are much faster than those in land based casinos.
• Players have ample time to reconsider their betting decisions and clear bets if necessary.
• All financial transactions are carried out with just a few mouse clicks
• You can try all roulette games for free before wagering real money.

Whichever roulette game you choose from the variety of modern variants, you can be sure that you will have a great time playing one of the most popular games of chance in the world. Play roulette online at our most popular online casino platforms.