History of Roulette

Roulette, named after the French for "small wheel", is one of the most famous casino games and has captivated players from around the world for centuries. But the exact history of the game has been the subject of plenty of argument. Some evidence suggests that it could have been brought to Europe by Dominican Monks from China, as far back as the 13th Century. Another theory is that the game had its origins in ancient Rome and Greece, when soldiers would tip over their chariots to spin the spoke wheels.

However, the invention of modern Roulette has been attributed to one man – the French mathematician, physicist and philosopher, Blaise Pascal, who was behind the revolutionary Pascal's triangle and Pascal's law. It is believed he discovered the game when he was searching for a perpetual motion machine. This early version was a fusion of different games of the time, such as the English wheel-based Roly-Poly, Reiner and Ace of Hearts as well as Hoca and Biribi, two board games from Italy. The name "Roulette" was taken from a French board game.

The Roulette of today is known to have been played in France since 1796. A novel titled, "La Roulette, ou le Jour", written in this year by Jacques Lablee, describes a Roulette wheel at the Palais Royal in Paris. There is, however, earlier documentation of the game, from regulations for New France (a vast area of North America claimed by the French colonists) that were published in 1758. At this time, the games of "dice, hoca, faro, and roulette" were banned.

The next big turning point in the history of Roulette came in 1843, when François and Louis Blanc (the latter a famous a French politician and historian) introduced the single '0' wheel, in an attempt to attract players to a lower house advantage. As gambling was now illegal in France, this new form of Roulette took centre stage in the German casino town of Homburg.

But the glory was short lived, as the Germans soon followed their close neighbours and banned gambling, forcing Blanc to move to the haven of Monte Carlo on the French Riviera. He received an invitation from the country of Monaco to set up a casino, and up until 1933, this was the only location in Europe where people could play Roulette. A popular legend of the time said that Blanc sold his soul to the devil for the secrets of the Roulette wheel – propagated by the fact that all the numbers on the board add up to '666', the "Number of the Beast".

Meanwhile, in the US, Roulette began to spread from the casinos of New Orleans, quickly making its way across the country. It was at this point that the wheel was raised on to the table, to prevent cheaters from sabotaging the game. This version also held on to the '00' pocket – the main difference between modern American and European Roulette. The gambling dens in the new territories of the US were in stark contrast to the glitz and glamour of Monte Carlo, but it is the American version, with its more straight-forward play and faster pace, that became the more popular.

Right up until the early 1970's, Roulette was largely confined to the casinos of Las Vegas and Monte Carlo, but today there are several hundred locations around the world offering the game. Of course, since the mid 1990's, the internet has been the main platform for new casinos, and players, taking to the Roulette wheel. The popularity of Roulette online has easily eclipsed that of the land based casinos and, out of all games, it is easily one of the most suited for internet gambling.