Roulette is not a new casino table game. It is, in fact, one of the oldest of the casino table games. The game is thought to date back to the seventeenth century. Its origins are unknown because some claim that the ancient Romans played roulette. Some attribute the game’s origins to China where it was learned by traders and brought back to France. It is believed that the mathematician Pascal developed the roulette wheel in France in his quest for a mechanism for perpetual motion. The game was being played in Paris in the 1700s. The game became popular like as bingo and poker, when the casino was opened in Monte Carlo. The Prince of Monaco needed a way to raise revenues for the principality. When the casino opened in 1861, it included the game of roulette. This game had a wheel that was based on the 1842 design of Francois and Louis Blanc. The wheel contained only a single zero which resulted in a house advantage of 2.7%. This is the version that is known as European Roulette. There was also a double zero version that was introduced in Europe which has a 5.24% house advantage. Since red and black were used for the double zero and single zero, respectively, they caused so much confusion that they were eventually changed to green.
The game came to America through New Orleans. They played with different variations in New Orleans and in different places. When the game was accepted in Las Vegas, it was the double zero version that they used.
