Unlike most examples of games roulette did not show a slow evolution with lots of precursors that gradually developed into the game we love today. Instead, it has a very definite starting point in the invention of Blaise Pascal, who was a French Mathematician in the Seventeenth Century. He wasn’t trying to create a Roulette wheel at all; instead, he was aiming for a perpetual motion machine. The result was the very first basic Roulette wheel, created in 1655. However, although he may have developed the basic mechanism for a Roulette wheel, this did not mean that he developed the game itself, and for that, there are a few other contributions.

The First Roulette Wheels

That doesn’t mean that Roulette didn’t go through a few changes along the way, nor that this meant that there were no spinning games before this moment. Although the game ‘Roulette’ was first noted in 1716, there are a lot of precursors to this game. Ancient Roman and Greek soldiers have been reported using various forms of games that involve painting symbols on a shield which was then spun on the ground while soldiers bet on the outcomes. Alternatively, an arrow would be placed to the shield and bets would be placed at what symbol the arrow was pointing when the shield came to rest.

The idea of Roulette can certainly be seen in some earlier games of chance, such as Hoca, an Italian game with a spinning wheel where patrons would bet on specific outcomes. In the same way as Roulette, the patrons would bet on the section that the ball would land. However, unlike Roulette, there were no numbers on the wheel, and bets were placed on animals or other symbols.

Portique is also an earlier game that had some similarities; it was played on a circular wheel, and players would bet on where an arrow would come to rest at the end. Biribi can also be seen as a precursor to Roulette, but this had no wheel; instead, players would bet on the 70 different squares on a board. Finally, there is also a claim from China that the history of Roulette can be found in a board game that has 37 animal figurines. The key link is that the numbers on the Chinese game add up to 666. However, there is no other clear link between the games other than this coincidence, in that the numbers on Roulette also add up to 666.

The Modern Game Of Roulette

Although the game of roulette was being described in France in the Eighteenth Century, the modern game of roulette really only came about after 1842. This was when two brothers, Francois and Louis Blanc, made significant changes: they removed the double-zero pocket, and in doing so produced the modern game of European Roulette. As gambling was then illegal in France, they launched their game in Bad Homburg in Germany, whereupon it quickly became popular and spread throughout Europe.

The importance of the removal of the double-zero pocket was that titreduced the house advantage (from 5.26 percent to 2.7 percent ). This made the European version of roulette tmore popular because it gave patrons a far greater chance of winning. Once this game was established in German, the brothers Blanc were invited to Monaco, whereupon they took part in the opening of the first modern casino, sealing their legacy in the great game of roulette.

American Roulette

At the same time, the earlier version of Roulette had been taken to the USA on the first wave of immigration, and became part of travelling casinos. This developed separately from the European version, and early versions had wheeles with 1-28, and as well as the double-zero slot, it included an American Eagle slot. This Eagle increased the house edge. However, after a few decades, the eagle slot was not retained. Today, the American version has kept the double-zero version of the game, which meant that in the USA, it’s more difficult to win than it is in France.

Roulette became more popular in the Twentieth Century because of the cinema. Its representation in films as the centrepiece of casinos meant that the popularity of the game increased in the early Twentieth Century. With its dynamic glitzy representation of the spinning wheel and the roll of the ball, showing a good Roulette game was a great way of showing the excitement of gambling on celluloid, as a visually more exciting game than, say, blackjack. Roulette also spread in popularity with the growth in casinos in the Twentieth Century, securing its position at the centreof any gambling establishment.

Online Roulette and the Future

The next big innovation came with the development of casino software that allowed for online roulette to be shown. The first became available in 1994, and the game has developed ever since. Online roulette offers a particularly useful way of learning the rules of the game without the pressures of live play. You can even practise with games that play for free. However, with ever-increasing graphics and improved sound, online Roulette can offer you the exciting environment of live play. Mobile apps even allow you to practise when you’re just out and about.

Nowadays, the great innovation of online live dealer games offer you the final way to enjoy roulette from your own home. The advent of faster internet speeds means that you can watch a live dealer while placing bets from the comfort of your own home. It’s the obvious progression from computer-based games, and a great way to get that Casino experience from afar. Roulette has almost come full circle back to the early Hollywood films, with the thrill of the spinning wheel through online experience offering an experience that can properly rival the atmosphere of actually being there much more than is the case for almost any other Casino game.

Roulette has come a long way since Pascal developed his original mechanical wheels. From its evolution to the European and American versions via the casinos of Monaco and New Orleans, it’s spun a colourful history to become the game we love today. So now you know more about where it comes from, why not drop in to some of our recommended casinos such as Cadoola or drop by Spinanga and have a crack at winning a spin in the game with a rich and colourful past.