Roulette is one of the most popular games of chance played today. It has a fascinating history, and whether played online or off, there is something about the thrill of the game that tempts players back time and time again.
We have created this guide to offer a brief history and information about the evolution of roulette as a game of chance, including its famous wheel.
Table of Contents
Standing the Test of Time
Roulette, in one form or another, has been around for centuries, with the Ancient Romans and Greeks all playing a form of the game of chance by spinning weapons or chariot wheels, betting on the outcome.
In the 17th century, the primitive wheel was created, although this was not intentional. A French inventor, mathematician, and physicist, Blaise Pascal, attempted (and consistently failed) to create a perpetual motion machine, resulting in the roulette wheel.
It was in the mid-19th century that brothers Francois and Louis Blanc developed an idea that revolutionised roulette.
They both belonged to a travelling circus that toured France; it was in Marseilles that they left the circus and began to work for a casino. Using their earning to open a bank in Bordeaux, the brothers used questionable practices to make a fortune, practices which were later outlawed.
The brothers were arrested and fined for bribing the local officials. Still, they eventually moved to Paris and returned to the gambling industry.
In France, at this time, King Louis Philippe had outlawed gambling throughout the country, which meant that the Blanc brothers instead opened up a casino in Hamburg, Germany. In Hamburg, the brothers created what would come to be known as the European roulette wheel with its single-zero pocket.
A single zero lowered the house edge and boosted the winning chances for those participating. Soon this roulette also boosted Hamburg’s economy as the game was incredibly popular.
But all good things come to an end.
In the early 1860s, Frankfurt outlawed gambling. Of course, this ban on gambling affected gambling in Hamburg, as well as in other surrounding areas. The reason behind outlawing gambling throughout Germany was that the powers then decided they no longer needed help from casinos to draw tourists to Germany and that casinos were no longer needed to bolster Germany’s economy.
At the same time, Charles of Monaco was suffering from financial troubles. He had heard of the popularity of the Blanc brothers’ roulette wheel. With some persuasion, Francois Blanc agreed to help Prince Charles and built the iconic Monte Carlo Casino to honour him. As the first modern casino of its time, the Monte Carlo casino helped to make Monte Carlo a centre for gambling, culture and art.
When William Jaggers Broke the Bank of Monte Carlo
Everywhere outside the United States of America, roulette wheels have 37 slots numbered 0 to 36.
American roulette wheels add a 00 (double zero), giving the American wheel 38 slots.
If perfectly balanced and clean, physical wheels will let the ball land in any slot, making roulette a true game of chance. However, imperfections of a roulette wheel can cause some numbers to land more often than others. These imperfections are what William Jaggers took advantage of in the late 1800s.
William Jaggers (an English engineer) paid six assistants to spend every day for a month checking the roulette wheels at the famous Monte Carlo casino and recording the winning numbers. The results showed that certain numbers came up more often than others.
Mr Jaggers then wagered big on those numbers that came up more often in the studies, and in a few days, he won $325,000, which is more than $6 million today. Unfortunately, the casino caught on, and to counteract Jagger’s winning streak, they swapped the roulette wheels nightly.
Today casinos regularly rotate their roulette wheels to frustrate players called ‘long-run frequency bettors’.
Roulette Travels Over the Pond
French Colonists took the single-zero version of roulette to America, where it was less popular than in Europe. American players and casino owners preferred the version of roulette with an extra double-zero pocket which some feel requires more skill to win. The double-zero version of roulette also has a higher house edge, leading to higher stakes.
The extra double-zero pocket means that the roulette wheel differs slightly with the addition of an extra green pocket and also in the order in which the numbers are displayed.
In both cases, numbers alternate between high and low and between red and black coloured pockets. If two green zero pockets are present (American roulette), these are placed directly opposite each other on the wheel.
Fast Forward To the Future
Even now, the European wheel is at the heart of the Monte Carlo Casino. It is down to the glamorous setting of the casino, which drew players from all over that helped casinos worldwide to boom, with the game becoming even more popular.
Roulette was one of the first casino games to become digital, and now you can try a wide range of roulette games from the comfort of your home.
Even live roulette games take place in real time, have a real live human croupier and are streamed from a physical building or studio to your screen. Live roulette games are about as close as you can get to walking through the doors of a land-based venue and bringing all the excitement of the wheel’s spin to wherever you happen to be.
