This was to make it clear that these spots would not win on even money bets.
Early on, one of the zeroes was colored red, while the other was colored black. The early version of the roulette wheel was similar to the modern American wheel and featured 36 numbers along with a zero and double zero. The first wheels that definitely used something similar to modern rules were found in Paris in 1796. While roulette wheels have always contained numbered pockets that represented the numbers players could bet on during a game, the exact layout of the wheel has changed several times throughout history.
Roulette wheels have been around for hundreds of years and, while modern wheels may be more consistent and reliable than their older counterparts, the basics of the way they function and operate are the same as they were in 18th Century France. Roulette is by far and away the most popular wheel game played in casinos today, however even the keenest players have probably given very little thought to one of the most important aspects of the game – the roulette wheel itself.
