Another theory gives the French mathematician Blaise Pascal credit for devising roulette in
the 17th century. Pascal is said to have developed the roulette wheel while trying to build a
perpetual motion machine. The roulette wheel was a product of his love of physics and his
short love affair with gambling.
In 1842, Frenchmen Francois and Louis Blanc introduce the zero to roulette, to give the
House Edge. This increased casino profits from running the game while not dramatically
affecting the game's growing popularity. The increased profitably of roulette no doubt played
a role in the spread of the game from casino to casino.
There is a story that Francois Blanc sold his soul to the Devil to learn the secrets of roulette.
They attribute this to the fact that the numbers of roulette (0 - 36) add up to 666. In anycase,
Francois Blanc's casino the Monte Carlo was incredibly successful and has always been the
centre of French gambling.
Some time in the 1800s roulette spread to America, where casino operators introduced a
further 00 to increase the house edge. Since then European roulette tables have been
distinguished by having just one 0 and the American roulette table having both 0 and 00.
Some early American roulette tables show an eagle instead of 00. Never the less, this may
also be part of why roulette has never been as popular in America as Europe.
In the imperial Russian court of Catherine II, roulette tables were
set up in luxurious rooms especially appointed for such diversions. Russian nobility was
entertained and seduced by the elegance, and of course by the chance to win or lose
fortunes, which they proceeded to do. Following the nobility roulette has always had a strong
following in Russia. The famous writer Fyodor Dostoevski spent his whole life winning and
losing small fortunes at the roulette tables; his book 'The Gambler' is considered to be a
reflection of his own experiences with roulette.
Modern developments in the game have been the introduction of table maximums, this was
designed to stop roulette players running over the casino using betting strategies like the
Martingale or Labouchere systems. Also to combat against biased wheel attacks, the modern
roulette wheel is a well oiled close to perfect machine. Wheels are maintained regularly and
computers track results constantly to ensure the wheel is not biased. Further, new roulette
wheels are made from granite or other modern materials that are much less likely to suffer
wear.
With the advent of the internet, online casinos now offer European and American roulette
games via the web. For American players, this is an opportunity to play the game with much
better odds.
Online Roulette
With the internet revolution online casinos have continued the story of Roulette's evolution. Two key new developments have been the introduction of French Roulette and Zero Roulette.
Offered by casinos running on Microgaming software, French Roulette is a single zero version of roulette that plays the La Partage rule, where even money bets lose only half wagers on zero results. This has reduced the house edge to 1.38%.
Yet the great revolution in game rules has come from Betfair, with the introduction of Zero Roulette. Zero Roulette is a roulette game with no zero. Effectively making the game mathematically fair, with a zero house edge. Players are payed true odds.
Famous Players
In 1873 the Englishman Joseph Jaggers with a team of six clerks made a biased wheel
attack on the Beaux-Arts Monte Carlo casino. In the end he walked away with a profit of
$325,000. A huge fortune for 1873! (Read full story of Joseph Jagger's biased wheel attack).
William Nelson Damborough is a well-known roulette player who won big at the beginning of
the 20th century. Legend has it that Damborough was able to predict the path of the ball -
and its final resting place - with only his eye and his brain. He used to place his bets
incredibly quickly after the croupier had spun the wheel. Damborough cleaned up regularly in
Monte Carlo before World War I, winning 64,000 pound sterling (or the Monaco equivalency)
in a single month in 1910.
A determined gambler by the name of Gonzalo Garcia-Pelayo gave the roulette wheel in a
Spanish casino his fullest attention. Using a computer he tried to figure out which number
was hit most often over a long period of time. His efforts paid off and in the mid-1990s he
won over a million dollars over the course of a few years.
In 2004 the Englishman Ashley Revell liquidates all his property and savings into cash to put
a single bet of $135,300 on red. The wheel spins Red 7, Ashley Revell doubles his net worth
in a single spin of roulette. (Read full story of Ashley Revell's roulette win).
