The Zeros in Roulette Games

Most of the time, it is not just playing your favorite game that matters. You as a player often times reach a level of curiosity about the game that you have grown to like and prefer over the years.

Among those games is the well-known roulette game which has captured the fancy of the gambling fanatics. Roulette has its own rich history which could be one of the reasons why it has been enjoying popularity until today. To prove how the roulette game has coped with the preferences of its players from different continents, there are two kinds of roulette that are being played, nowadays. Those are the American Roulette and European Roulette.

European Roulette

European Roulette is distinguished from the American roulette by using only one zero packet. Historians believed that the roulette game originated from China and was transported to Europe by traveling Europeans who had contacts with Chinese merchants, back then. From there, the early versions of roulette made use of a wheel and spinning wheel in 17th and 18th century Europe. The early versions resembled much of the modern European roulette except that the single zero was in red and the double zero was in black.

Fast forward to the mid-19th century in France, the roulette game which has a single zero was introduced. The single zero digit was a strategy for players to gain more chances of winning and decreasing the casino's edge. When gambling was declared illegal in Germany, the inventor of the single zero roulette, Louis Blanc, decided to move to Monaco and established a casino. Until 1933, Blanc's casino exclusively offered the roulette game. Despite the rarity of the roulette, it became popular in Europe and Blanc's casino took credit for setting the roulette standards in Europe.

Roulette in European setting was a huge success. But, the success of the game did not end in the continent alone. It has started its own voyage to other places to seek another audience.

American Roulette

The American roulette is also known as the "American Wheel." The roulette game was introduced in the United States in the 18th century. Following the footsteps and success of the European roulette, the American roulette introduced the use of a single zero and double zeros, as well. At first, casinos in America were not in favor of the single zero-scheme. They added a double zero to increase the odds of the house. With that addition in the American roulette, casinos have raked in billions of dollars every year due to bigger house advantage.