The roulette wheel
The roulette wheel is a rotating vessel with slanted walls and pockets. It allows the ball to roll around into separate pockets on its rim when spun. The pockets comprise of a complicated system of numbers and attributes, designed randomly. It is this random nature that allows the game of roulette to beat all strategies.
The pockets are colored alternately, red and black. American roulette has two green colored pockets with a 00 and European has a single green pocket representing a single 0.
In a live brick and mortar casino, the spinning wheel dictates the randomness of the number. While playing online, however, the numbers are generated by a random number generator. This software is such that it corresponds to the established Roulette odds. It produces thousands of random numbers until you point and click to stop the wheel from spinning or until the virtual croupier declares that, the wheel has stopped spinning and calls out the wining number.
With a European roulette wheel, the house edge is approx. 2.70%, which is much lower than the American wheel at 5.26%.
The origins of the roulette wheel are shrouded in debate. While some historians believe that the game has its roots in ancient China, the popular theory is that the French Mathematician Blaise Pascal invented the game in the 17th century.
In the 18th century, the game’s popularity rose significantly and was considered the national symbol of the country of Monaco. The then ruler, Prince Charles, introduced the game in a big way in order to generate revenue. The roulette wheel did not become popular in North America until the 19th century when it became a standard in gambling houses during the California Gold Rush.
Apart from the single and double zeros, there are some slight variations in how roulette should be played in America as opposed to Europe. In American casinos, the croupiers scoop the chips from the table with their hands. In European casinos, the croupiers gather the chips using a long rake.
Additionally, in American roulette, players are given different colored chips to distinguish one player from the other. In European roulette all players use the same colored chips.
