The single number zero is a significant aspect of a roulette wheel. It gives the house an edge over the players, but that wasn’t why it was introduced.
Did you know that the roulette number zero was once “banned” from use at every casino in the U.K.? Did you also know that California roulette was introduced after the state disallowed the operation of the game’s wheel?
In this casino news, we discuss the incident that occurred in the 20th century, leading to the ban on the number zero.
Number Zero: How It Affects Your Game
The number zero is a tiny but conspicuous spot on the roulette wheel, commonly identified by its green color. This spot is disliked in most contexts, including gaming.
If the ball on the roulette wheel rolls and stops at zero, all bets placed, such as odd/even, red/black, and others, are lost. However, if a player wagers on the number zero and lands it, the payout is 35 to 1, which many still feel is wrong.
How brick-and-mortar casino roulette works isn’t much different from how online roulette gambling works. For both, the number zero sets the house edge at 2.7% if the European version is played. But for the American version, which features two zeros, it is about 5.26%.
While the number zero may seem like a nightmare for roulette players, it is the casino’s way of recouping some money over time. In the 1960s, a stern warning was issued to the British casino parlors to scrap its use. But why? First, let’s look at the history of the roulette number zero.
History of Roulette Number Zero
Roulette’s number zero owes its history to Pascal Blaise, who created a motion machine that eventually became the game’s wheel. The wheel had two betting spaces containing two numbers, zero and double zero, and this was adopted in the United States.
Initially, red was assigned to the single zero to distinguish the two spots, while green was given to the double zero. However, both were changed to green in the 1800s for clarity. By the 19th century, roulette wheels with double-zero features were the norm in Europe until 1843.
That year, two French brothers, Françios and Louis Blanc, decided to try to change the roulette systems by removing one of the two existing zeros. They owned a casino outlet in Bad Homburg, Germany, and sought a better marketing strategy to increase their establishment’s popularity.
At the time, the idea seemed great, as the brothers thought that if players realized that the house edge had reduced, they would flood their outlet and wager more. While they were right about the single zero reducing the house edge, Françios and Louis Blanc didn’t get their desired result. Nonetheless, they left their invention anyway. This was how the European roulette was born.
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Coming to the U.K
While many British casinos welcomed the idea of single-zero roulette, at the time, there was still a shaky stance on commercializing casino games rather than privatizing them in Britain. Playing a game of chance was deemed illegal during the 19th and up to some of the 20th century.
The Betting and Gaming Act 1960, however, made it possible for the regulations to be readjusted. As British lords began legalizing several casino games, casino parlors began to spread. It was during this period that Britain accepted the roulette wheel. Things were going smoothly until the number zero was banned.
The Ban of Roulette Wheel Number Zero
The number zero, known to be the significant reason why the British welcomed European roulette, became nullified when the senior detectives from Scotland Yard issued a ban in December 1967.
The order was that zero should be scrapped from the roulette wheel in casino games, leaving only numbers from 1 to 36 in operation. These words echoed in the ears of the British casino managers. Casinos would lose her house edge, and every money earned would be based on an even break. And if players utilize an electronic roulette strategy (nunavailable at that time, of course), all advantages would be removed.
Nevertheless, this announcement was not without reasons. The House of Lords deliberated that the casino’s addition of the number zero trampled on the game’s fairness to players, whereby betting on a single number would mean a player had returns of 35:1 along with their initial stake.
Following the roulette guide, the wheel has 37 total numbers, including zero. Therefore, the returns to players should be 36:1 and not 35:1. They saw the whole scenario as a scheme designed to cheat the players, hence the ban.
Thanks to the Gaming Act of 1968, the ban was lifted. Clubs and casinos, including the best casino online, were permitted to restock roulette wheels with a zero. The law established that the house edge is small, and ultimately, casinos are businesses, and such a small percentage of profit can be allowed.
Number Zero in the United States
The original roulette wheel, which consists of a single and double zero, is a staple in the United States. Many other versions, like Zoom roulette online, retain the double zero. The only major ban case happened in California. The roulette wheel was prohibited entirely, leading to the introduction of another variant named after the city: California roulette. It lacked wheels and was replaced with a deck of 38 cards, which determined the winning number.
Spin the Wheel for Zeros
The roulette number zero is a figure that players do not like, but it is suitable for casinos. While it has faced a ban in its journey, it remains an integral part of the American and European roulette wheels.
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