What Is European Roulette Wheel?

Roulette is a casino game named after the French word meaning little wheel. In the game, players may choose to place bets on either a single number, various groupings of numbers, the colors red or black, whether the number is odd or even, or if the numbers are high (19–36) or low (1–18).

To determine the winning number and color, a croupier spins a wheel in one direction, then spins a ball in the opposite direction around a tilted circular track running around the outer edge of the wheel. The ball eventually loses momentum and falls onto the wheel and into one of 37 (in French/European style roulette) or 38 (in American style roulette) colored and numbered pockets on the wheel.

The first form of roulette was devised in 18th century France. A century earlier, Blaise Pascal introduced a primitive form of roulette in the 17th century in his search for a perpetual motion machine. The game has been played in its present form since as early as 1796 in Paris. An early description of the roulette game in its current form is found in a French novel La Roulette, ou le Jour by Jaques Lablee, which describes a roulette wheel in the Palais Royal in Paris in 1796.

The description included details such as the house pockets, “There are exactly two slots reserved for the bank, whence it derives its sole mathematical advantage.” It then goes on to describe the layout with, “There are six players at each table.” Based on this information, most historians believe that roulette was invented by Blaise Pascal.

The roulette wheels used in the casinos of Paris during Pascal’s time had red for the single zero and black for double zero. To avoid confusion, color-coded chips were introduced. In some forms of early American roulette wheels – as shown in the 1886 Hoyle gambling books, there were numbers 1 through 28, plus a single zero, a double zero, and an American Eagle. The Eagle slot, which was a symbol of American liberty, was a house slot that brought the casino extra edge.

Soon after 1800,6 Charles Francois Blanc introduced himself to Monte Carlo society and began establishing his own casinos there – including one known as “Le Grand Casino de Monte Carlo” which is still open today. Blanc used his single-zero wheel at this casino and it quickly became popular; by 1843 it was standard equipment at all Paris casinos except Casino deauville where they used double-zero wheels instead.

The double-zero wheel is found today at American casinos; its popularity led to its spread elsewhere. In 1843 Claude François Blanc added numbers 0 through 28 to his Roulette Wheel so that every number would have an equal chance of coming up; this became known as Single Zero Roulette – European Roulette Wheel – French Roulette Wheel –
and it quickly became popular throughout Europe including England where it had previously been banned; today almost all European casinos use Single Zero Wheels with just a few using Double Zero Wheels instead – mostly American casinos use Double Zero Wheels elsewhere they use Single Zero Wheels except at some high roller tables where they sometimes use Triple Zero Wheels which have even worse odds for players than Double Zero Wheels!

In conclusion: The European Roulette Wheel has 37 pockets – numbered 0 to 36 – with 18 red pockets and 18 black pockets and one green pocket for 0; The American Roulette Wheel has 38 pockets – numbered 0 to 36 plus 00 – with 18 red pockets ,18 black pockets ,and two green pockets for 0 and 00; A croupier spins a ball around a wheel in one direction then spins it around a track in an anti-clockwise direction around the outer edge of that same wheel; The ball eventually falls into one of 37 (for European/French style roulette) or 38 (for American style roulette) colored & numbered pockets on that same wheel; The game got its start in 18th century France and was played with red & black for single & double zero respectively; By 1843 Claude François Blanc had added numbers 0 through 28 so that every number would have an equal chance of coming up (this became known as Single Zero Roulette); The popularity of Single Zero Roulette led to its spread throughout Europe including England where it had previously been banned.