During the 1840s California Gold Rush, the roulette wheel traveled westward and floating games were setup in the back of wagons or in tent saloons in almost every boomtown and mining camp in the West.

Because cheating, by both the house and the players became so rampart, the rules were changed. Soon the sequences of numbers on the slots on the roulette wheel were changed and an extra green slot "00" was added to increase the house's edge. The original European table had a single zero for house with a completely different numbering system.

Although considered the "third table" for many American casinos (behind blackjack and craps), millions of people do play roulette and are just as passionate as poker players.

In fact in 2004 one such player, Londoner Ashley Revell sold everything he owned including most of his clothes plus he changed his middle name to raise $135,300 in order to play roulette. A UK sports betting site (BlueSq.com) paid an undisclosed amount for him to change his middle to Blue Square. Which he did.

Afterwards, Revell flew to Las Vegas to place a single bet on the spin of the roulette wheel. He wagered his entire nest egg on the color red and won $270, 600 (Red 7).

Online roulette has spread this exciting game even further. Along with the software the online casino provides, you can also download and use "roulette companion" applications like Routrack.

The American Roulette Wheel

The American style roulette wheel has 38 slots, 1 though 36 with two slots for the single 0 and double 00. At first glance the numbers along the edge of the roulette wheel are just jumbled together. But in fact the numbers of arranged in an attempt to alternate the red and black colors, high, low digits along with odd and even numbers.

Also the rectangular layout of the betting table or felt is slightly different. The felt layout of the American style roulette table comes printed in 2 or 3 colors with a 0 and 00 at one end with two betting areas on one side: inside and outside bets.

The outside area has labeled betting boxes for the low or high numbers (1-18, 19-36), red or black, odd or even numbers, column bets and the 1st 12", "2nd 12" or "3rd 12" (1-12,13-24, 25-36). The inside area is comprised of the individual figures for each numbered slot on the wheel 1-36.

With the American roulette the betting variations are numerous and the odds are 35 to 1. The house edge in American roulette is 5.26% vs. only 2.7% for European tables. So many smart players either use a professional betting system or place money based on simple strategies like using even money bets. Even money bets payouts 1 to 1 and wagers on red/black, odd/even or high/low numbers.

American roulette, while it does have a higher edge than a European wheel, its betting layout and numbering system makes for a faster and more exciting form of this centuries old game. All you have to do is ask Ashley Blue Square Revell.