Roulette is considered one of the most popular gambling attractions as it is offered in every single casino and is regularly played by millions of people all around the globe. Except for usual roulette, modern technologies offer online variants. You can play the game even for cryptocurrency nowadays! Even though there are a lot of those who enjoy it, little of them know how their favorite game occurred and shaped up. Stay tuned: today, we will talk about the history of roulette!
The Origins
It is unclear when and where exactly roulette occurred: numerous ancient civilizations played the games which included the characteristics of this game, however, none of them is close enough to define it as an ancestor. For example, there is data that proves that Roman soldiers played many gambling games, one of which included spinning a chariot wheel. Another theory claims that Dominican monks brought a very similar game in China. All in all, none of these theories is argumentative enough to prove itself as a direct origin of our favorite roulette.
If you are one of the enthusiasts who love to rotate the wheel, you might be interested in trying the best online roulette practices. Luckily, there is a NativeCasinos website which offers its users the list of the top-rated casinos and also offers a lot of other useful info on the topic of gambling. Trying one of the offered roulettes you could compare it with traditional one and feel its history.
French Roulette
The modern game of roulette occurred in the XVIII century in France. This is also clear from the name of the game, which is translated as “little wheel.” However, many people believe that it was invented by Blaise Pascal a bit earlier, in the XVII century, when he was trying to invent the perpetual motion machine. Two games impacted the game we know, their names were
- “Even-Odd”
- “Roly Poly”
Both these entertainments required the players to spin the wheel and bet on the result of the spin. The game became popular in France and was one of the favorite options in Parisian casinos.
However, in most other countries around Europe, gambling was prohibited. In the XVIII century, Monaco authorities had issues with money, so the ruler of the country, Prince Charles, decided to make a profit from gambling, opening a number of gambling houses. This step not only solved his problems but also contributed to the rising popularity of roulette among the elites.
Removing the Double Zero Pocket
By the time gambling became illegal in France, there were people who did not want to give up their hobby. Louis and Francois Blanc decided to save the traditions of roulette and moved to German Hamburg in order to establish a gambling house. Except for opening a casino, they also made another significant step which resulted in the creation of the modern variant of the game. At those times, roulettes had two zero slots. The Frenchmen decided to remove one of them: this reduced the house edge in twice, and, therefore, made the game more profitable for the players. Newly introduced game became even more popular with this innovation.
Prince Charles of Monaco asked Blancs to visit Monaco, and they brought their game with them – and founded the first modern-like casino there.
To sum up, the history of roulette has ancient origins, but the game we know occurred only several centuries ago – in the XVII or XVIII century. The game stole the hearts of the Europeans, Frenchmen primarily, and quickly spread on different continents. Nowadays roulette is one of the most significant gambling games, played by millions of people worldwide.