HOW THE GAME OF ROULETTE CAME TO BE.

Roulette is often referred to by people as the "King of Casino Games", no doubt its regal status has come about as a result of its association with the glamour and riches of the Monte Carlo casinos with which it will forever be associated with. The games legendary status doesn't end there however, going further back we find it may have the most occult of roots. Stories abound of how the creator of the game sold his soul to the devil in return for the idea that would revolutionize gambling forever. The numbers of the roulette wheel do after all add up to 666! Whether you take this story with a pinch of salt or run for the hills and vow to never again bet it all on black, roulette remains one of the most universally recognizable and iconic games in the history of gambling, and is even more popular today than it ever has been in the past.

The word Roulette means 'little wheel' in French, emerging as it did as a popular gambling game in France in the 18th century. 1758 is the date commonly given for the first recorded mention of the word roulette that refers to all subsequent variants of the game of roulette that are still played today. The date refers to a document from French Quebec that discusses the games illegal status. Also in 1796 there is another mention of the game, in 'La Roulette, ou le Jour', a novel by Jaques Lablee. Lablee's story contains a passage in which the roulette wheel at the Palais Royal in Paris is described.

1843 is also another big date in the history of roulette, it being when Francois and Louis Blanc introduced the single 0 roulette wheel. Other variants of the game feature numbers that only go from 1-28, that use both the single and double zero, and that feature the symbol of an American eagle.

It didn't take very long for the game to spread across the globe, having been introduced and spread across the U.S by the 19th century, as well as being an old favourite in the old casinos of Europe.

1860 marked the date that Germany decided to outlaw gambling in line with other countries in Europe. This move contributed to a large degree in Monte Carlo gaining its reputation as a centre for gambling, it being the only place left in Europe where gambling was still legal. As a result it quickly became synonymous with casinos and gained a reputation as a place where the wealthy from all across the world would convene to gamble. Monte Carlo was also the place that is responsible for establishing the single 0 roulette wheel, while the United States still uses the older double zero wheel.

While Monte Carlo gave roulette its glitz and glamor, but it was America that was responsible for making certain key changes in the game that persist to this day. As a reaction to wide spread cheating in the game American roulette saw the wheel being placed on top of the table, and also a simplification of the layout of the table itself. It was at this point that the European game morphed into the one we all know so well today. The American game was typically faster paced, stripped down and more simple and these changes are the ones that have persisted transforming and old game enjoyed primarily by rich Europeans, into the game that nearly everyone on the planet recognizes today.

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