The Origins of Roulette
Roulette means “little wheel” in French and has a long and colourful history. It was an accidental invention in 1655 by Blaise Pascal a nerdy French mathematician, physicist, and inventor. It was not created to play roulette. Pascal Blaise was trying to invent a perpetual motion machine. Though the laws of physics state it is impossible to continuously operate a machine without a source of external energy due to the laws of thermodynamics, he wanted to try to defy the odds. The experiment is considered to be a failure, however, the leftover wheel became one of the most popular games in the history of casinos.
In 1702, forty years after the death of Blaise Pascal, the Italians invented a gaming wheel for the game Cavaglone that resembled Pascal’s wheel. No one knows when or if the wheel from Italy travelled to France with Cavaglone. It became very popular among the French Aristocracy.
Key Milestones In Roulette’s History
The first mention of roulette was in a legal case in Bordeaux, France in 1711 when French officers were asked to destroy the roulette game because of the scandalous behaviour and language that players practiced when playing the game. There were further references to roulette in subsequent documents along with other gambling in the years that followed the court case. On 18 April 1741, roulette appeared on a list of forbidden games along with other games that shared similarities such as portique, hoca, bassette, roly poly, and even-odd. The existence of these variations makes finding out the exact origin of Roulette difficult to determine. Roly poly was the game that was the most similar to roulette.
The rules of modern roulette were created in the 1790s. A novel written in 1796 and published in 1801 by French Author Jacques Lablée tells the story of a roulette wheel that was used in the Palais Royal in Paris.
Despite being on the banned list, roulette remained very popular and made its first casino debut in Paris in 1796. It was enjoyed by the upper classes who, being protected by their social status, essentially created legal casinos that were safe as long as the correct individuals were on the guest list.
The first roulette wheel used in Paris had a red space for the single black 0 and a black space for the double 0, and an additional 36 red and black pockets that were numbered 1 to 36.
Between 1796 and 1843, roulette was transformed from being an obscure invention to the most popular casino game on the planet and earned the nickname “the king of casino games”. Its success can be attributed to twin brothers François and Louis Blanc.
King Louis Philippe I banned gambling in France on 1 January 1838. This ban made business risky for the brothers. They moved to Germany and set up the first casino Spielbank Bad Homburg in the town of Bad Homburg with permission to run the business for thirty years. The casino is still running today.
In 1843, they created a wheel that had only one zero and changed the pocket colour to green. This change gave players a better chance of winning and changed how modern roulette is played.
There are myths that say that the Blanc brothers sold their souls to the devil to learn the secrets of the roulette wheel since the numbers 1 to 36 when added together equal 666. It is also thought that Las Vegas earned its nickname of “sin city” because of this number.
Germany banned gambling in the 1870s. François travelled to Monaco after being contacted by King Charles I, who, desperate to solve the country’s economic problems and attract more tourists, announced the legalisation of roulette. François opened several casinos, among them a place called Monte Carlo in the centre of the principality. As in Germany, there was investment in transport links that paired with the exceptional beauty of the area made the project an instant success within the first year and other French casinos struggled to compete with it.
Roulette spread across Europe during the 19th century and was brought to America where the double zero travelled up the Mississippi River to New Orleans and then spread westward. The first American roulette wheel was numbered 1-28, with a single and double zero along with an American eagle. The American eagle, a symbol of liberty, gave the house an added advantage of a third slot and it was eventually abolished. It was in America that the wheel was fixed to a table to ensure that other objects could not be placed under it to curb the excessive cheating that was prevalent among players. The rules of the game were also modified.
During the first part of the 20th century, there were only two notable places to play proper roulette, Monte Carlo with the single zero and Las Vegas with the double zero. It was only in the 1970s that casinos began to gain popularity and success around the world. The double zero wheel is used most commonly in the U.S., Canada, South America, and the Caribbean. The single zero wheel is more commonly used throughout the rest of the world.
The first mention of roulette in Canada was in 1758 in Québec. Gambling was a very clandestine activity in the 1800s it was run by underground gambling rings. In the 1950s, several forms of gambling were legalised in Canada. It was frowned upon, as gambling was considered as anti-social behaviour. In 1990, the first casino complex – Crystal Casino was constructed in Winnipeg and was an instant success. Many other land based casinos were constructed around the country and featured roulette in almost every establishment as it was a favourite game among Canadians.
The Digital Age Has Made Roulette Easily Accessible To Canadians and Has Revitalised The Game’s Appeal
The creation of live roulette dealer games has created a resurgence in its popularity as it is easily accessible and players are enticed by the possibility of winning big. The thrill of playing roulette has made it a perfect online game that is easily accessible from a smartphone or other mobile device. Interactions with live dealers and other participants and endless variations, despite little change in the rules over the centuries has created a new generation of roulette fans enjoying the “king of casino games”.
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