Roulette History

It is unclear exactly where roulette originated. One theory is that the basic idea of roulette came from China. The game was played by monks and spread to the people. Some monks traveled and ended up in Europe for trade. It seems that this is how the game spread to Europe. Some believe that the Ancient Romans spun their chariot wheels for entertainment.

Blaise Pascal, a 17th century French mathematician/scientist invented the roulette wheel while trying to invent a perpetual motion machine.

In 1720 in England, a game of chance, named Roly Poly, was played by the nobility. This game had a spinning wheel and a ball. In 1739 and 1740, games of chance were banned in England. For a short time, a simplified version of roulette called Even-Odd was played until that too was banned in 1745. Many European countries had banned games of chance at this time.

Towards the end of the 18th century, roulette was revived in France. Prince Charles of Monaco used gambling houses to relieve economic problems in the area. Around 1796, roulette games in France were played in a similar way to modern day roulette games. Similar rules and betting were used, as were the numbers 1 – 36, and the red and black alternating colors.

In 1843, gambling was illegal almost everywhere in France, so brothers Francois and Louis Blanc, two Frenchmen, moved their version of roulette to Homborg, Germany. They invented a game with only a single zero, which reduced the house edge. They brought competition as the roulette games played in Europe had both the zero and double zero. Some years later, the Blanc family took roulette back to France. They also built the Monte Carlo casino resort.

The numbers from 0 – 36 (the numbers on a roulette wheel), when added together, reach a total of 666, which some say is the symbol for the devil – the “Number of the Beast”. Legend tells us that the secret of roulette was learned by a bargain being made with the devil.

European settlers in the early 1800s who landed in New Orleans, were responsible for bringing roulette to America. The casino owners did not like the small house edge when playing roulette with a single zero, and after some time, the game with zero and double zero became the commonly accepted form of roulette in America.

The roulette wheel with its single and double zeros has become known as the American wheel, and the roulette wheel with only a single zero has become known as the European wheel.