History of European Roulette
The very first roulette wheel wasn’t designed for betting purposes. In an attempt to create a perpetual motion machine, Blaise Pascal, a French inventor and physicist, inadvertently created a primitive roulette wheel.
It was a good by-product. Nowadays, roulette is enjoyed by millions of people all over the world. In most casinos, two variants exist: American and European Roulette. The wheel was originally designed with 36 numbers and two slots (the zero, and double-zero) that gave the house a small advantage. However, in order to compete, a casino in Bad Homburg, a German casino and spa destination, began offering roulette with only one zero slot for house edge.
Odds, house edge and chances to win
This reduced the edge from 5.26% to 2.70%. Casinos all over Europe began using single-zero roulette wheels, but when the game made its way to the US, the double-zero was added. Now, when you look at our newer online European Roulette table (not the Classic variant), you’ll see the same 1-36 digits that you’d find on an American table, but there is only one green slot: the zero. The bets and payouts are the same, but the house edge is lower in the European version.
Our older Classic European Roulette offers extra bets not available on American Roulette tables, nor are they available in our newer European Roulette.
Side Bets in European Roulette
Voisins du Zéro
This inside bet covers the numbers 22, 18, 29, 7, 28, 12, 35, 3, 26, 0, 32, 15, 19, 4, 21, 2 and 25 with nine chips. These are the numbers closest to the 0 on the wheel. This bet wins an average of 45.9% of the time.
Orphans
This inside bet covers the numbers 1, 20, 14, 31, 9, 17, 34 and 6 with five chips. This bet results in wins an average of 24.3% of the time.
Tiers du Cylindre
This inside bet covers the numbers 27, 13, 36, 11, 30, 8, 23, 10, 5, 24, 16 and 33 with six chips. This bet results in wins an average of 32.4% of the time.
Fortunately, when you play roulette online, you can make these exotic bets simply by clicking on the bet names, which are laid out on the table. Figuring out chip placement for these numbers is time-consuming in a brick-and-mortar casino, but when you play online, the computer will automatically place the chips for you. All you’ve got to do is spin the wheel and cross your fingers.