European Roulette System and History

How to play it and when to take advantage...
Like most classic casino games in the world, the exact origin of European Roulette is lost forever. However, there was likely some form of a wheel based game going back almost as far as the origin of the wheel itself. There are stories that the game was invented in China and brought to Europe by traders who were trading with the Chinese. But no one really know the origin or European Roulette or indeed Roulette. There are several versions of a [Roulette] wheel and spinning ball were invented in the mid 17th and 18th centuries in Europe. The first roulette game was introduced in the mid 17th Century by a French scientist, Blaise Pascal during a "monastic retreat" and played for the first time in a Paris casino. This basic Roulette game contained all of the features that we have today with the one exception, the single zero was coloured red while the double zero was coloured black. This led to some confusion for players and the colour green was introduced for the zero and double zero.

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Who Invented Roulette?
Frenchmen Francois and Louis Blanc invented the single zero roulette game in 1842. Because gambling was illegal in France during this time, the game was introduced in Hamburg, Germany where it became very popular and replaced an earlier, lower odds version. When gambling was outlawed in Germany the inventors of the single zero machine Louis Blanc and Francois went to Monaco to establish and operate a casino. The casino set the standards for roulette in Europe, and roulette remained exclusive to Monte Carlo until 1933. As a result, the luxurious, world-famous resort of Monte Carlo was developed.

When roulette came to the United States in the early 1800s, the improvements were deleted, and a double zero returned. The double zero roulette wheels or "American Wheels" were very popular in the old west of America. The penetration of the single zero wheel or "European Wheel" were and still is wider in Europe then in United States.

In Europe and Atlantic City the casinos introduced another refinement to the game that increased the odds for the player, the option of “En Prison” or "la partage rule" was offered. With the en prison option if the player has made an even money bet (bet on Even or Odd, Red or Black, 1-18 or 19-36) and zero or double zero is the next outcome the player has two options: "imprison" the bet (the bet stays where it is and the next spin determines if the bet is lost or returned to the player) or surrender half of the bet.

The European Roulette wheel layout or French Wheel layout has 37 partitions that are numbered from the 1 to 36 and 0. The fact that the table only has one zero means the house's advantage is a meer 2.70% in contrast to the American Roulette advantage which is nearly double.

As you are playing against the house rather than other players, roulette can be a very social game - and occasionally very animated. Essentially there are three versions of roulette - English, French and American. For the purposes of this article, we're going to assume we're playing English roulette.

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Roulette Basic Play
A minimum of one player is required, with a maximum of eight. Each player has chips of a different colour (to avoid bets being confused). When you cash up at the end of the game, you exchange the coloured chips for real value ones. To play, you place your chips on the numbers (including zero) and set betting positions (odds or evens, red or black, et al) on the table layout. The casino sets minimum and maximum bets. When sufficient time has elapsed for betting, the dealer spins the wheel and launches the ball in the opposite direction. Just before the ball is about to drop, the dealer says 'no more bets' and bets can no longer be placed or changed. Once the dealer has placed a dolly on the winning number on the layout and cleared all the losing bets, you can start placing new bets, while the winners are being paid out.

Betting
There are nine standard types of roulette bets: six 'inside bets' and three 'outside bets'. All individual outside bets must be at least the table minimum, while the total of the inside bets must exceed the minimum. This catches a lot of first-time players out - if you're a roulette neophyte, it's worth watching for a while before plunging in. The house also sets different minimum and maximum limits for different tables so don't drift from one table to another without checking this out. Other nuances you should know about include late betting and misplaced chips.

If you bet after the dealer has said he is no longer taking bets, your bet will be void. During betting, the dealer will try his or her best to tidy up various piles of chips into a semblance of order but if you want a split bet make sure you place it correctly on the line and that it stays there. With chips flying all over the table, some end up getting moved to places that were never intended. Misplaced bets tend to be the biggest source of disputes, but it's your money, so look after it.

Little known and generally used only by terminal show-offs, so-called 'French bets' (examples include 'voisins de zero' and 'orphelins') are multiple-chip combinations of bets that cover specific areas of the wheel.

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There is no system for roulette!
Type in 'roulette strategy' on Google and you will be presented with a whole range of winning roulette schemes that '. . . you too can own by just mailing $25 today!!' Do yourself and your wallet a favour and don't bother, for there is a harsh reality that you must face: roulette is a game of chance.

You have no more chance of winning by using a paid for roulette strategy - no matter how expensive, and no matter how many flashing lights its website boasts - than by picking the numbers from a hat. Delve into gambling further and you will come across the martingale system for even-money bets. At first glance, this looks foolproof, but it is in reality a recipe for disaster. Working on the premise that your chances of winning are 50/50 (what about the zero? Oh - it conveniently forgets it's there), you are urged to place a bet and, if it loses, to then make the same bet but with the amount doubled.

If that second bet loses, then you are urged to double the bet again. You are then urged to carry on regardless with this procedure until you win. The theory behind the system is that eventually (!) your bet must win and you will recoup everything you have bet so far and turn in a profit equivalent to your initial bet.
Do not use this system. Aside from the poor mathematics, if you try to double your bet each time you lose, you will eventually come up against the table limit. Remember, casino are not charities.

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Patterns are for tablecloths
Another common fallacy is that there is a pattern to the numbers that come up. After all, if it's red for seven spins on the trot, the next one must be black! Look around you next time you are in your local casino and you will see gamblers examining the roulette winning number display to see if a certain sequence is coming up, or 'hot numbers' - some may even make a note of them in a small book. Although they look like skilled gamblers, please believe me, those people are wasting their time.

Winning at roulette is down to luck, collusion with the dealer or, possibly, the use of a barcode scanner linked to a computer in your shoe. As both of the latter options are likely to land you in deep trouble, think positive and remember that numbers such as your birthday, shoe size or number of fingers are as likely to win as any other. In roulette, the number where the ball will fall next is every bit as random. Just so you don't get too despondent about the fickleness of roulette, remember that you can sometimes be lucky and win (otherwise no one would play the game). Just don't get suckered - eventually the only winner is the casino.

Reproduced with kind permission from Inside Edge Magazine