A Short History of the Roulette Game
There are no accurate facts that can back up the origin of the roulette game. However, this does not stop the spread of tales concerning ancient roulette history, but the facts about the game surfaced only around the 17th century. This was the time when the Renaissance Period had surfaced, and thus, Europe was concerned with all kinds of arts, humanities and even leisure. The name "roulette" is after the French term meaning "small wheel".
The early features of the ball and the spinning wheel in the roulette game where said to have appeared in the 17th century. The origin of the recognized rules and concepts during that time remains a mystery today. Nevertheless, the game was quite popular in France and thus sparked the first moments of roulette history in the western civilization.
The roulette wheel in France almost contained the features of the roulette wheel that we know of today. However, there was one exception, and that was the double-zero and the single-zero wheel that contained black and red colors respectively.
During the 19th century, the Blanc brothers, Louis and Francois, had thought about removing the double zero in the roulette wheel. When gambling was outlawed in many parts of Europe the small kingdom of Monaco was one of the few countries to allow gambling. The Monaco royals invited Louis Blanc to operate and assist in the building of casinos in the country. The game of roulette was made exclusive within the borders of Monaco until the year of 1933. By that time, roulette had become popular among European aristocrats and nobles, thus the standards of the single-zero "European" roulette was set. This story had led to the birth of the European roulette history, pertaining to the European wheel that we are now familiar with.
American roulette history started during the late 19th or early 20th century. It was said that the American roulette was introduced in the state of New Orleans, perhaps due to its past with the French colonizers. The cities of New Orleans was said to contain small casinos, and it was made sure that the game of roulette was included. To gain house advantage, casino owners revived the old version of the European roulette and thus included the double zero. This revived version became known as the American roulette.
Modern roulette history can be traced from its spread around Europe and the United States, perhaps starting from 1933 when the standardization of the new version of European roulette. Also included in modern roulette history is the development of the online version and Roulette Royale.