wheel and deal

[Baker, John]

Roulette tables were in use in California during the gold rush, so I would assume that they were also available in Old West casinos.  Of course, most parts of the Old West were too rural to support casinos, and roulette has always been a casino game.  
 
In any case, I don't think that roulette or any other gambling game has anything to do with "wheeling and dealing."  It seems to me that no very complicated etymology is needed for this typical example of an American rhyming phrase.  I suspect that Jim Landau's answer is essentially correct, whether or not an explicit reference to horsemanship is intended.
 
 
John Baker
 

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From: American Dialect Society on behalf of James A. Landau
Sent: Mon 2/19/2007 6:30 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: wheel and deal



I cannot recall ever having heard about people in the Wild West using roulette wheels (or dice, for that matter).  Just cards, and in particular poker and faro.  One can easily imagine someone on a covered wagon or stagecoach bringing a deck of cards, or several, but not something as fragile and space-consuming as a roulette wheel.

(Come to think of it, I have heard of the pea-in-the-shell game, but nutshells and peas or similar-sized pieces of gravel were widely available.)

Here's a guess:  "wheeling" is a maneuver performed by a horse and rider.  Could it be that "wheeling and dealing" meant that a rider who might be expected to ride off would instead keep turning around ("wheeling") to bargain some more?

    - Jim Landau

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