Roulette - History

The first form of roulette was devised in 17th century France. The game has been played in its current form since as early as 1796 in Paris. In 1842, fellow Frenchmen François and Louis Blanc added the "0" to the roulette wheel in order to achieve a house advantage. In the early 1800s, roulette was brought into the U.S. where, to further increase house odds, a second zero, "00", was introduced. (In some forms of early American roulette the double-zero was replaced by an American Eagle.) In the 1800s, roulette spread all over both Europe and the U.S., becoming one of the most famous and most popular casino games. Some call roulette the "King of Casino Games", probably because it was associated with the glamour of the casinos in Monte Carlo. (François Blanc actually established the first casinos there.)

A legend tells François Blanc supposedly bargained with the devil to obtain the secrets of roulette. The legend is based on the fact that the sum of all the numbers on the roulette wheel (from 1 to 36) is 666, which is the "Number of the Beast."

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