The history of roulette is hard to pin down most experts believe that the game originated in china and was brought over to Great Britain and Europe by traders as early as the late 16th century. How similar the original game is to the modern day game however is not known. There are examples of European roulette tables that were made in the 17th and 18th century these did not follow the exact same rules as the modern game but the wheel and ball however were the same. The game of roulette as it is now known was popular in Parisian casinos in the 18th century and the only difference was the colour of the 0 and 00 which were red and black respectively The first games that we would recognize as modern roulette were introduced in Paris casinos around the end of the 18th century. This game contained all of the features that we have today with the one exception, the single zero was colored red while the double zero was colored black. This led to some confusion for players and the color green was introduced for the zero and double zero to alleviate the confusion. This was later changed to green to avoid confusion it was about this time that the game moved over to the United states. In Europe the game however evolved to a one zero wheel which was pioneered in Monaco in the 1930s this lead to the double zero wheels in the United States to be called the 'American Wheel'. In Europe the odds were also improved in the betters favour with the introduction of the 'en prison' option which allows the player to lay an even money bet either Even-Odd, Red-Black, 1-18 or 19-36 and if zero or double zero is the next outcome the player can either use the 'en prison' which means that the bet stays where it is and the next spin determines if the bet is lost or returned to the player or the player may surrender half. This is now the most widespread version of the game played today that is very popular in casinos worldwide but especially in Europe.