The History of Roulette

Roulette is a French word meaning "small wheel". It is widely agreed that the first Roulette Wheel was invented by Blaise Pascal in 1655. Pascal was known for his works in the field of probability. At the beginning, roulette was played in a monastery to brighten up the tedium but later it found its way to a casino in Paris where it became a game for intelligent and glamorous.

The first casinos in Monte Carlo were established in 1842 by Francois and Luis Blanc. The legend has it that the devil shared the secret of roulette with them in exchange for their souls. These two men chose the numbers from 0 to 36 to use in the game. The total sum of these numbers is 666, the number of the beast! However, most of such stories are difficult to prove, but it's a fact that the game has always been surrounded with an area of supernatural.

Roulette arrived to the United States in the early 1800's. From the very beginning this game was popular among people who made their living by relying on superstition, patience and luck. Roulette became very popular among western miners, prospectors and gold speculators during the Gold Rush period.

The single zero modification was rejected in the US and the game was altered with additional two zeroes. Later, the American casinos introduced the 31-pocket roulette because they weren't with the house edge of the European Roulette wheels. The extra pocket significantly increased the house edge. Therefore, those players who play European Roulette have higher chances of winning than those playing the American Roulette.

Today, Roulette is one of the most popular casino games because it's a relatively simple game which offers big payouts. There are many land based based and online casinos that offer American Roulette, European Roulette and various innovative roulette games.