Why play roulette online instead of at a real casino? As I already mentioned, the cost of playing at Vegas is much higher. You have your room fee, your plane ticket, the cost of eating out while there, etc. It is very expensive. However, playing online is free. You can play at 3 am in the morning, while dressed in your bathrobe, eating a bowl full of popcorn. No one will rush you; you can take 20 minutes to place your next bets. You can have a notebook full of roulette strategies in front of you and no one will hassle you. The allure of the online casino is the convenience and ease of use.

In addition to this, your odds of winning at an online casino are higher than the odds of winning in Vegas. Why? Because online casinos costs are lower, so they can afford to pay out a higher percentage to the customer. Competition for online casino customers is very fierce, so not only will online casinos pay out a higher percentage of winnings to their customers, but they will also award lucrative, no strings attached bonuses. Online casinos offer a wide array of bonuses, from matching your initial deposit up to 100%, to continuously awarding bonuses based on the amount that you play.

The best part about playing online is the lack of distractions. Roulette is a very social game, and usually draws large crowds in Las Vegas. If you want to concentrate on the game, it can be hard to do so. However, playing online, it is just you and the computer, so you can focus on improving your play. Graphically speaking, online roulette games these days are so advanced that you probably won't even notice the difference anyways. Just put your feet up on the desk, load up your casino software, and have a few hours of fun, without the expense of travelling to Vegas.

Fanciful stories about the invention of Roulette include its invention by the 17th century French mathematician Blaise Pascal and first played in a casino in Paris, by a French monk to help break the monotony of monastery life, and by the Chinese, from whom it was transmitted to France by Dominican monks. Whatever its antecedents and origins, Roulette emerged only in the late 18th century as a glamorous attraction in the casinos of Europe, where it has long been associated with the gaming rooms at Monte-Carlo.

The Roulette wheel layout used in Europe and in America generally not the same. The Roulette wheels in Europe are numbered 1-36, and have a green zero section. The Roulette wheels in America, however, have a green zero and double zero, giving the American casinos twice the house edge. Things have improved however, in the mid 1800's, Roulette wheels in Europe had the double zero system, while those in America had even a triple zero.

Roulette history is hard to come by because the origin of Roulette is lost, and there was likely some form of a wheel based game going back almost as far as the origin of the wheel itself. There are stories that the game was invented in China and brought to Europe by traders who were trading with the Chinese.
Several early versions of a wheel and spinning ball were invented in the 17th and 18th centuries in Europe. 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.

In the mid 19th century the single zero game was invented in France, this reduced the casino's edge thereby increasing the odds of the player. When gambling was outlawed in Germany the inventor of the single zero machine (Louis Blanc) accepted an invitation to go to Monaco to establish and operate a casino. The casino set the standards for Roulette in Europe, and Roulette remained exclusive to Monte Carlo until 1933. This led to the gambling and resort industry in Monaco as many of Europe's rich were attracted to the luxurious Monte Carlo casino.

The use of the double zero Roulette wheels survived in the United States and is sometimes called the "American Wheel". The introduction of the single zero wheel (with better odds for the player) resulted in the demise of the double zero wheels in Europe and has become known as the "French Wheel" in Roulette history.

In Europe (also Atlantic City in the U.S.) the Casino's offered another refinement to the game that increased the odds yet again for the player, the option of "En Prison" was offered. With the en prison option if the player has bet an even money bet (Even-Odd, Red-Black, 1-18 or 19-36) and zero or double zero is the next outcome the player has two options:

1. The player can "imprison" the bet. This means the bet stays where it is and the next spin determines if the bet is lost or returned to the player.
2. The player may surrender half of the bet.