Roulette is an important casino game that has been popular for nearly three centuries. Considered a classic gambling game, Roulette has also found a home online. European Roulette brings all the drama and excitement of casino roulette to your fingertips, serving up a visual treat. One of the great things about European Roulette is its accessibility, an absolute beginner has as much chance of winning as an experienced player.
As more people embrace online casinos, roulette continues to be one of the most popular games alongside online slots and poker. Understanding the history of roulette can help you get even more enjoyment from a game that is simple but deceptively nuanced.
History of Roulette
The invention of roulette is widely attributed to Blaise Pascal, a French mathematician and inventor who inadvertently created one of the world’s most popular games. This was more than 300 years ago when Pascal was studying probabilities during the invention of a perpetual motion machine. The iteration introduced by Pascal was a limited version of the game we all know and love… but it was a start.
Over the next decades and into the 18th and 19th centuries, Roulette in its current form began to take shape. It first gained traction in Paris and created plenty of amazing stories. Perhaps the most iconic story surrounding roulette states Frenchman Francois Blanc made a pact with the devil in order to master the game. Incidentally, all the numbers on the roulette wheel at up to 666, The Number of the Beast!
Arguably the most important difference between European and American roulette is how the two games use the zero section. American roulette comes with two zero sections, a “0” and “00” while European roulette gets just one zero section (“0”). Because of the single zero, European roulette has a slightly more favourable player edge than the American variant.
French roulette was the grandfather of all variants and is closely related to European. One important difference is players lose their wagered money when the ball drops on zero.
European Roulette Rules
One of the beautiful things about roulette is the game is so easy to understand and play. Like any gambling game, the aim of roulette is to win as much money as possible based on how much you are willing to bet. At its core, the point of European Roulette is for the player (that’s you!) to guess the number on the wheel where the ball will land at the end of each spin. There are numerous bet types and wager patterns that result in different payouts. The best paying bets are the ones that will be the hardest to win, but hey, you have to be in it to win it.
Roulette bets and odds
Getting to grips with European Roulette rules is no big deal as the game is so easy to understand. However, the real complication in roulette is found in the bets, of which there are many. Betting on a roulette table falls under two categories, Inside Bets and Outside Bets. The former are 50/50 bets that offer a greater chance of success, while the latter outside bets are more spread but pay out more.
| Bet Spread | Description | Payout | Odds |
| Straight Up | Any single number including zero | 35 to 1 | 36 to 1 |
| Split | Any two joint numbers (vertical and horizontal) | 17 to 1 | 17.5 to 1 |
| Basket | 0, 1 2 or 0, 2, 3 | 11 to 1 | 11.33 to 1 |
| Street | Three horizontal numbers | 11 to 1 | 11.33 to 1 |
| Corner | Four joined numbers in a square | 8 to 1 | 8. 25 to 1 |
| Six Line | Any six numbers from two rows | 5 to 1 | 5.167 to 1 |
| High | Numbers 19 to 36 | 1 to 1 | 1.056 to 1 |
| Low | Numbers 1 to 18 | 1 to 1 | 1.056 to 1 |
| Red | All red numbers on game table | 1 to 1 | 1.056 to 1 |
| Black | All black numbers on game table | 1 to 1 | 1.056 to 1 |
| First 12 | Numbers 1 to 12 | 2 to 1 | 2.083 to 1 |
| Second 12 | Numbers 13 to 24 | 2 to 1 | 2.083 to 1 |
| Third 12 | Numbers 25 to 36 | 2 to 1 | 2.083 to 1 |
| First Line | Numbers 3 to 36 across the top line of table | 2 to 1 | 2.083 to 1 |
| Second Line | Numbers 2 to 35 across the middle line of table | 2 to 1 | 2.083 to 1 |
| Third Line | Numbers 1 to 34 across bottom line of table | 2 to 1 | 2.083 to 1 |
| Even | All even numbers on game table | 1 to 1 | 1.056 to 1 |
| Odd | All odd numbers on game table | 1 to 1 | 1.056 to 1 |
