What Is Shot Glass Roulette?

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 other direction around a tilted track running around the circumference of the wheel. The ball eventually loses momentum and falls onto the wheel and into one of 37 (in French/European roulette) or 38 (in American 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 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, “two betting spaces containing the bank’s two numbers, zero and double zero”.

The book was published in 1801.

In 1843, in the German spa casino town of Bad Homburg, fellow Frenchmen François and Louise Blanc introduced the single zero style roulette wheel in order to compete against other casinos offering the traditional wheel with single and double zero house pockets.

The Blanc family moved to Monte Carlo where they began operating casino facilities and introducing their version of French Roulette. Due to its popularity, this version of roulette quickly spread around Europe and eventually made its way to America via immigrants from France. American style roulette has 38 pockets – 2 green 0 pockets (house advantage 5.26%), 18 red pockets, 18 black pockets and one green double 0 pocket (house advantage 7.

89%). The European style has 37 pockets – 1 green 0 pocket (house advantage 2.7%), 18 red pockets ,18 black pockets and no green double 0 pocket. The double 0 on American wheels almost doubles the casino’s advantage over players.

The house edge on shot glass roulette is 5.26% on American wheels and 2.7% on European wheels when making even money bets(red/black, odd/even etc.). The house edge increases to 7.

89% on American wheels when making any bet that involves only one number such as betting on a specific number or group of numbers(1-12 etc. This bet also has a 2 to 1 payout like even money bets so it can be appealing to players looking for big payouts while only risking a small amount. However, this bet should be avoided as it significantly increases the house edge and decreases your chances of winning.