Online European Roulette

Known to many as the “Game of Kings,” European roulette has been around in some form or another for more than two hundred years and the game continues to compel and excite gamblers around the world to this day. Now that it is being offered in online casinos as well, the appeal of the game seems to be increasing by the minute. Commonly associated with the glamour of Monte Carlo, and offering players increased odds over the double-zero tables of the U.S., European roulette shows no signs of losing its long-running popularity with casino visitors all over the world, whether it is live or on the web.

How Roulette Works – How to Play

European Roulette Online there are really only a few differences between online European roulette and its American counterpart, though it’s important to know what they are. Anyone who has played either version of the game should be able to find their way through the other without any major problems. “Roulette” is French for “little wheel” and in both versions, the inner ring of the roulette is separated into a series of small pockets, each numbered from 1 to 36 and alternately colored either red or black. On the European roulette wheel, there are thirty-seven pockets, including a single zero slot that is considered the house pocket. Meanwhile, the American roulette wheel will feature a second slot for the house, or a double-zero, offering the player a slightly decreased chance of winning, even though there are thirty-eight slots on this wheel.

An adjacent table is laid out with a chart containing all of the numbers in the wheel, as well as spaces representing all red or black and all even or odd numbers. European roulette tables are generally placed on either side of the wheel, while the American-style table usually extends out from one side of it instead. Players can select a specific number or they can wager on a set of numbers by placing their chips on the numbers’ block. Bets can also be placed on which color will hit and whether the number will be even or odd.

The croupier will spin the wheel in one direction and toss a small ball into it in the other direction. Bets can continue to be placed on the table until the dealer calls “Rien ne va plus” in French or “No more bets” in English. With a built-in track, the wheel catches the ball and continues spinning, maintaining the ball’s circular path. Once it has finally slowed down enough, the ball will fall into one of the pockets in the wheel, thereby selecting the winning number and color for the game.

The History of Roulette

There are written references to roulette in France dating back as far as the late 18th century, when the game was described in a novel named for it by Jacques Lab lee. La Roulette, ou Le Jour gave an account of the game at the celebrated Palais Royale in Paris, indicating that it was already in regular use at the time, if only by the wealthy French elite. Historians believe that roulette was a compilation of several European wheel and board games that were popular at the time. Although the earliest games in France had a double-zero layout, it wasn’t long before two brothers, Frenchmen as well, who were operating in a popular German gaming town decided to try to compete against their former countrymen by introducing the single-zero roulette wheel. Francois and Louis Blanc’s new take on roulette was a hit in that region, though the casinos to the south apparently didn’t take much notice of it.

Nations across Europe began to prohibit gambling one-by-one throughout the 19th century. Once Germany outlawed gambling in the 1860’s, there was only one place left in Europe for betting, and that was in the tiny nation of Monaco that is tucked into the Mediterranean coast, at the far southeast tip of France. The Blanc brothers took their single-zero roulette game to Monte Carlo and the idea behind it quickly caught on. In fact, it was such a success that a local legend persisted for years that Francois Blanc had actually made a deal with the devil in order to gain all of the knowledge about roulette that could be known. This rumor was also fueled by the fact that the numbers of the roulette wheel, 1 through 36, total 666 when they are tallied together and that number represents the so-called “Number of the Beast” or mark of the devil.