Roulette History Lesson
From France to the web, from a single zero to a double-zero.
Three-hundred years of spinning wheels. Though dice preceded roulette by a couple millennia, roulette is by all standards an historical game. It remaining a popular game, extremely popular in fact, at online casinos, is testament of its appeal.
Roulette was invented by French philosopher Blaise Pascal., a mathematician and author of The Pensées.
Naturally, the game has evolved over time. Today there are several versions of the game, including the most famous European Roulette and American Roulette.
The American version was introduced later than the European, and differs by an extra double-zero slot on the wheel, thus increasing the house edge on the game. Otherwise the games are practically the same.
The French origin is still evident in the name "Roulette", which means "small wheel".
Historical Bets
Roulette was in the gambling news in 2004, when two memorable betting stories spread around the world.
London resident Ashley Revell sold all his possessions and bet $135,300 on the Roulette wheel at the Plaza Hotel, Las Vegas. Luckily, or rather fortunately, he left with double the amount, having won a double-or-nothing bet on a Red 7.
Also in 2004, a group of three was accused by a casino for using cell phones and lasers to predict where the roulette ball would land, winning 1,000,000 pounds sterling this way. They kept the lot as the casino could not provide sufficient proof that this was the case.
