The History of the Roulette Game

The word roulette comes from the French word meaning "small wheel" or "little wheel." There are a lot of stories on the origin or the history of roulette. One story goes that roulette as a game was initially played by Chinese and made its way to Europe through Dominican monks. Another take on its history is that the game was invented by mathematician Blaise Pascal.

Like most stories in the gaming world, the history of roulette also has its share of colorful ones. According to one story, Francois Blanc sold his soul to the devil in order to learn about the game. Most people point to the fact that the total of the numbers in the game is 666. Another story relates that Blaise Pascal was interested in making a machine based on the concept of perpetual motion. A friend however saw what he had made and decided that the contraption was better as a gambling device.

Despite this lack of proper the history of roulette gaming, most people agree that the basic form of the roulette we know came to be sometime in the 18th century. Developed by Francois and Louis Blanc, the history of roulette didn't become popular at first since gambling was banned in France during this time. The game was later introduced in Hamburg, Germany where it started to gain popularity. It wasn't until the game was played by Charles III, then Prince of Monaco, that the game gained its place in history. Francois Blanc in fact, history tells us, established a casino in Monaco. It was in early 19th century that the history of roulette gaming eventually made its way to the shores of America.

The history of roulette gaming has two versions aptly called the "American" and "European" versions. The main difference between these two versions of roulette is the the European version gave the player better odds of winning.

The history of roulette gaming itself is also relatively simple. You have a wheel with "pockets" that are numbered from 1 to 36 but not arranged in numerical order. The color of the pockets also alternate between usually between red and black. The wheel is then spun and a white ball thrown. A player's excitement then builds up as the wheel slows down and everyone waits to see where the roulette ball drops. It is this very simplicity that has made roulette still popular in gaming despite a lot of alternatives being offered.

Like the world of gaming, the history of roulette gaming has also evolved. One can play roulette even at the comfort of their home through the Internet.

Enough with the history lessons. What are you waiting for? Ready to take a chance with the wheel of fate?