The Origin Of Roulette

There is still speculation as to where the roulette game originates from. Some declare that it is derived from China and was brought by traders and Dominican monks from the Far East to the Americas. Others claim that the roulette game comes from France, the word being French word for “small wheel", and was created by an unruly French mathematician, Blaise Pascal in the 17th century.

Monaco still remains a strong convert to the roulette game because in the 18th century Prince Charles thought that it would be a convenient way to keep the economy of the small principality afloat. When the game came to the Americas in the middle of the 19th Century the invention of the single "O" was introduced by Frenchmen, Louis and Francois Blanc. However the American game now plays the double "O" game while the European game still constitutes the single "0" game. The double O game enables the house to make a higher profit. The roulette game proved to have something of a milestone in the California Gold Rush obviously attracted to the large amounts of money to be made.

There are two different ways of playing roulette, there are two different wheels that are played and these are the American wheel and the European wheel. The difference is minimal in that the American wheel has 38 numbers including 0, 00 and 1 to 36. The European wheel contains 37 numbers including 0 and the numbers 1 to 36. Other differences between the two varying forms of roulette are that in American casinos, the dealers will use their hands to draw in the bets while the European croupiers use a long stick called the Rake to collect the chips. Also in America the roulette players are given different color chips and in Europe they are given the same color chips. Roulette continues to be a very popular game especially in Europe.