Roulette History
The first important development in roulette history can be traced to 17th century France, when in 1655, mathematician Blaise Pascal invented the roulette wheel. Now this is a significant event in roulette history obviously, since the roulette wheel is the device around which the game revolves…no pun intended! But what is interesting is that Pascal–who is of course, one of the most respected mathematical figures in history–actually invented the roulette wheel in a bid to come up with a perpetual motion machine.
His machine never did actually see the light of day, but don’t feel too sorry for him; Pascal’s Triangle is still standard math instruction in classrooms all over the world, and he even had a computer language named after him. And of course, he will forever be known in roulette history as the inventor of the wheel without which the game would not have come into being.
Roulette’s Notable Changes
It is also interesting to note that there were almost no changes to the roulette game made throughout the first two hundred years of roulette history. In any case, 1842 brought about a significant modification to the game, with the addition of a "0" slot to the wheel. The innovation of Francois and Louis Blanc, this brought the total number of slots to 37 (numbered 0 to 36), and effectively increased the game’s house advantage.
The spread and subsequent popularity of the game across Europe is one of the more surprising aspects of roulette history, since gambling was actually illegal all over France. Nevertheless, the allure of the game proved too much to contain, and it wasn’t long before the first casinos were established in Monte Carlo. It was there that the game was dubbed the “King of Casino Games.” This is the one defining moment in roulette history when the game truly came into its own.
Another important chapter in roulette history was written when the game made its way to the United States via the French immigrants who braved the Atlantic Ocean. It was there that the "00" was added to the wheel (which is sometimes replaced with an American Eagle), further cementing American roulette into roulette’s history.
Beating the Roulette Wheel
Throughout roulette history, a number of players have made attempts to beat the wheel through with different types of roulette strategy, with varying degrees of success. One notable example was Joseph Jagger, who in 1873 enlisted the aid of 6 people to take note of the numbers that came up in the roulette wheels of a certain Monte Carlo casino. Jagger realized that one number in particular came up more frequently than any other number, and he was able to win more than $450,000 at the game before being caught.
1978 marked the first time in roulette history when attempts were made to beat the game with the use of a computer. The group responsible for the development of the computer won over $10,000 until a component malfunction brought an end to their winning streak.
Today's, the game is just as popular as ever, and the advent of online casino version of the game means that there are yet many pages to be written in roulette history.
