Appreciate the history of roulette and its two versions

People who go to casinos purely to relax, have fun and unwind would most likely pick a game of chance to play at, in order to avoid too much thinking and analysis that could be stressful. Several of these games are always available, and one of the more popular ones is the roulette.

There are two versions of this game, the French or European which has 37 slots, and the American, which has 38. Whatever the version though, it always involves a wheel with the numbered slots, a track around the wheel, and a ball that is spun around the track then falls into any of the numbered slots. Bets are placed in anticipation of where the ball will fall, and may be on a single number, specific ranges of numbers, on whether the slot will be odd or even, or black or red.

It is interesting to review the history of the game though, and trace from where the present versions come.

Its roots can be traced back to France in the 18th century, more specifically Paris in 1796, though a crude version of the wheel may have come out as early as a century prior in relation to a scientific exercise or experiment. This version had both a single zero and a double zero.

Roulette grew in popularity in the 19th century, and expanded its reach across Europe and all the way to America. The early American version also featured the single and double zero pockets, along with an extra one of an eagle though this last icon was dropped over time such that only the numbers remained on the wheel.

Towards the latter part of the 19th century, only Monte Carlo in Europe recognized casinos as legal. Roulette with a single zero was then a game of choice. This tradition continues to this day, thus the French or European version of the game.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, the popularity of the game was also spreading across American territory, but this time using the original wheel featuring both the single and double zero pockets. Changes introduced though included that of the wheel being positioned on a tabletop, primarily to prevent cheating, and a simplification of the layout for wagers. These gave rising to the American version, which is characterized as having fast action and simple betting. This American version with the double zero pocket is popular in North America (USA and Canada), the Caribbean and South America.

An interesting trivia for those religiously-inclined is that the numbers in the roulette wheel are from one to 36, and the sum of all these is 666.