Roulette History: A Guide to the Famous Game
Roulette history probably isn’t your topic of interest. But even if you don’t consider yourself a gambling person, you’re almost certainly familiar with the word roulette and its use in both land-based and online casinos. Deceptively simple, roulette is widely considered a game of luck. The “gambler’s fallacy” has certainly made it one of the most popular casino games ever. After all, if you haven’t won in a while, it’s more likely that you’ll win on the next spin, right?
What is it that makes the game of roulette so attractive? Why is it such a common cause of gambling addiction? And, most importantly, where did it actually come from? Considering its enormous popularity in the US, you may be wondering when roulette came to the New World. There is more than one theory as to how the game came to be, so we’ll try to give you the most authentic versions of its history.
Truth be told, to get more insight into the history of roulette, we need to sail back to 17th-century Europe – France, to be precise. In 1658, the great physicist and mathematician Blaise Pascal caused a revolution among the European scientific community. He wrote an anonymous letter to other European mathematicians inviting them to enter a competition, or what was termed a commonality at the time.
He organized a competition to have as many scientists as possible help him solve a problem. They presented their works, the winner was announced, and – voila! – roulette was born to the world.
Roulette’s origin is interwoven into Histoire de la Roulette, written collaboratively by Pascal and Perosnier de Roberval. Their work won the competition and is considered the first to explain the true meaning of roulette. While roulette has also been associated with contributions from other countries, including China and Italy, Pascal’s studies and his interest in the topic have received the biggest acknowledgement.
There is also a story about roulette being developed from the English game Roly Poly. However, Pascal’s perpetual motion machine, also called Pascal’s roulette machine, has made a much stronger mark on history.
Roulette Goes Global
Throughout the history of the game, the name of King Charles III of Monaco has often been associated with roulette. There are various stories about his gambling-related laws and restrictions, but many people think he contributed to the house edge getting bigger by adding the zero to the roulette wheel. Moreover, he took the credit for the financial stability of Monaco by opening the big casino and making it available to everyone.
It is accepted that until the end of the 18th century, the game was widespread, but roulette history was mostly written in France, Germany, and Monaco. According to some historical sources, roulette was played in Paris in 1796. At this time, roulette wheels had both a single and a double zero. Two Frenchmen – Francois and Louis Blanc – were credited for creating a single-zero roulette wheel to help casinos boost their business by promoting a lower house edge.
There are many different stories about their work and travel across Europe, but one thing is for certain; they changed roulette wheel numbers by adding the single zero.
While the game may have started in Europe, its biggest boost undoubtedly came from the United States. By the time it crossed the Atlantic, roulette was the big thing in Europe, but the Americans didn’t like it so much at first. They wanted the game to be more lucrative for the casinos, which is why they added another zero and increased the house advantage. By making double-zero roulette, they developed what is now known as American roulette.
Now that we’ve explored the history of the game, we should say something more about roulette itself – the game, structure, odds, earnings, and so on. At first glance, this game seems to be mostly about placing a bet, picking a number, the dealer throwing a ball into the spinning roulette wheel, the dealer closing the bets, and you waiting for the ball to stop. Sounds easy, right? Well hang tight because there’s a bit more to it.
The Name of the Game
Roulette is the French word for “little wheel,” but roulette rules show that there’s more to the game than just casually throwing roulette chips and haphazardly betting on every spin. Instead, you should take the time to learn the different bet types and odds that you can find in the casinos. It means you should learn roulette terms, know the balance between risk and reward, and develop an adequate strategy. This way, you’ll be more likely to enjoy the game and give yourself the best chance of growing your credits.
Although it’s difficult to define an effective roulette strategy, there are steps you can take to increase your odds of winning.
How Does Roulette Work? Classic Roulette vs American Roulette
When you’re playing roulette, you can bet on a single number or different groups of numbers. There’s a variety of betting combinations available, all of which offer different odds for winning and, accordingly, different roulette payouts. Inside bets refer to all the possible bets you can make within the inner section of the table. Inside bets offer lower chances of winnings but higher payouts. They include straight-up, split, street, corner, five, and line bets.
If you place outside bets at the roulette table, there’s a better chance of winning, albeit with a lower payout. This is considered a good betting strategy for those who are new to roulette. There are five different outside bet types you can make: column bets, dozen bets, and bets on color, odds/evens, or low/high.
Looking at the probability and winnings in this game throughout its history, you’ll notice that the odds were better when there were only 36 numbers on a roulette wheel. Indeed, a bet on red/black back in those days should’ve given you a 50% chance of winning.
Nowadays, roulette tables in the US offer worse odds with 38 numbers on the gambling wheel, including zero and double zero. A more acceptable option is the European roulette wheel, which has 37 pockets. As some studies have shown, the expected chance of winning from a single-number wager on a fair European roulette table is 2.70%, while a simple outside bet should win 48.65% of the time. On an American table, these numbers are 2.63% and 47.37% respectively.
Speaking of possibilities and odds, there are those who think you can win this game by using physics to your advantage. Back in the 19th century, English mechanic and amateur mathematician Joseph Jagger came away from a Monte Carlo casino with winnings of £65,000. Jagger gambled profitably for a week before the management shuffled the wheels between tables.
His accomplishment was based on a theory that slight mechanical imperfections in roulette machines could afford a substantial edge in terms of helping him make a spinning calculation and predict where the ball would stop. His modus operandi was based on exploiting unbalanced wheels with different systematic biases. Jagger identified the characteristics of every roulette table (and every wheel), which helped him guess the outcome of the game.
Aside from Jagger, there were other people in the 20th century who tried similar tactics, and not just in Europe. Many also tried to exploit the imperfections of the American roulette wheel. In practice, if the roulette wheel is not perfectly level, the ball is more likely to end up in some pockets than it is in others. Observing these trends can increase your chance of winning, as you can work out which pockets to avoid betting on.
This field was researched by Edward Thor in the second half of the 20th century. Thor could predict the half of the wheel on which the ball would land by measuring the angular velocity of the ball. His research thus became an important contribution to roulette history.
Roulette Odds
Your odds of winning roulette can be very low, which isn’t surprising given that it is a game based on pure luck (wonky wheels notwithstanding). The truth is that some people have been extremely lucky, while others seem to have actually succeeded in beating the machine. Here are some of the biggest roulette winners throughout the history of the game:
- Joseph Jagger – $375,000 (1873)
- Charles Wells – ₣2,000,000 (1881)
- Chris Boyd – $440,000 (1994)
- Sir Philip Green – $2,000,000 (2004)
- Pedro Grendene Bartelle – $3,500,000 (2017)
Bartelle became world famous for the biggest roulette win in history. In 2017, Bartelle took $3.5 million after playing the French roulette wheel in Uruguay. Rather than relying on pure luck, he focused on making his own. Bartelle actually focused his chips around the number 32 and modified his complete bet by including the numbers surrounding 32. It seems he actually hit his lucky number, since red 32 came up and he multiplied his stake by 10.
Roulette Rules and Table Layouts
Whether you’re a roulette fan or not, this text is designed to provide you with the key facts for understanding the history of the game and its variations. Nevertheless, roulette’s look and structure require a short explanation too. The roulette table layout is pretty much the same everywhere, with all versions including both inside and outside bets.
The table features black and red squares with numbers and two more rows below, as well as one column on each side. While European tables include one zero, the American version has an extra field: the double zero.
There are also slight differences between European and French roulette layouts. Namely, French roulette has columns above the table written in French, while European has two rows below written in English. American roulette table layouts feature numbers in circles and two rows below the table.
The Rise of Online Roulette
Writing about the history of roulette has its own quaint charm, but life in the 21st century is inextricably connected to the internet. After all, the internet is one of our main sources of roulette-related information today. In addition to numerous gambling websites and online casinos, there are many quality roulette websites where you can enjoy your favorite game from the comfort of your home.
Throughout most of the 20th century, there weren’t really that many places where you could play roulette. However, roulette’s evolution has helped the game move away from exclusive, high-end casinos and into our everyday lives. Nowadays, instead of getting dressed up and driving to your nearest casino, wherever that may be, you can simply head online and enjoy the same gameplay from the comfort of your own home. You can even play on your smartphone via dedicated apps. These advances in technology explain roulette’s present-day popularity.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who invented roulette?
World-famous scientist, physicist, and mathematician Blaise Pascal is considered the inventor of one of the most popular casino games. While he was working on his perpetual motion machine, he unintentionally contributed to the development of one of the best-loved casino games ever: a simple wheel with numbers, one ball, and loads of luck, all filled with adrenaline and anticipation.
Pascal’s invention notwithstanding, there are many theories about the emergence of roulette in many different countries, maybe even around the same time. Many similarities have been found throughout the history of roulette, which helps explain roulette as we know it today.
Did the inventor of roulette kill himself?
There are rumors that the inventor of the game killed himself because he was unable to win over the game itself. However, no viable information can be found to suggest this is true. In addition to a multitude of stories relating to the origins of roulette, it is widely accepted that a form of the game was brought from China to Europe by travelers, and that some form of roulette was also played in Persia.
Still, the most viable evidence suggests that the old roulette wheel was probably a descendant of the English game “Roly Poly” and Italian game called “Hoca.”
What was roulette originally called?
There is ongoing controversy surrounding the origin of roulette, as well as its name. Some historians suggest that it used to be called Wheel of Fortune, for example. In China, there was a game with numbers that totaled 666, which was later discovered by Dominican monks. In Ancient Rome, there was a game played by soldiers that resembles roulette.
The latter can be perhaps explained by suggesting that when soldiers weren’t fighting, they would come up with games using their shields or weapons. Regardless of how close this game was to the one we know today, it’s clear that roulette history is more complex than it appears at first glance.