The History of Roulette

Written by Kevin Conze

Fact-checked by Bart Crebolder

Last updated September 02, 2026

Roulette is originally a French game that was invented in the 17th century by Blaise Pascal, a mathematician obsessed with objects that were in constant motion.

This game was first played in 1796 in Paris and in 1842, Frenchmen François and Louis Blanc added the "0" sector to the wheel in order to gain a casino advantage. In the early 1800s, roulette crossed the Atlantic Ocean to the United States, where a second zero "00" was added to further increase the establishment's advantage. In the 1800s, roulette became popular throughout Europe and the United States, becoming one of the most well-known casino games. She is often referred to as the "queen of casino gaming" due to the popularity of casinos on the French Riviera and in Monte Carlo. Roulette came to Monaco thanks to Prince Charles, the ruler of Monaco in the 1800s, who introduced gambling to the principality. Following Louis Blanc, the Monte Carlo casinos were founded and are considered the "holy bowl" of European casinos. Although gambling later became legal in France, French roulette was only played in Monte Carlo, making its casinos popular and surrounding roulette with a certain glamor. In 1843, in the German resort-casino town of Bad Homburg, Frenchmen François and Louis Blanc introduced a single 0 style roulette wheel to compete with other casinos offering a traditional wheel with one and two zero pockets. There is a remarkable fact: if you add up all the numbers on the roulette wheel (from 1 to 36), the result is "666" - the number of the devil - and some say that this is because François Blanc made a pact with the devil to keep the secrets of roulette safely preserved. There are theories that roulette actually originated in China, and was brought to Europe through trade between Chinese and Dominican monks. Another theory says that the Romans played games by spinning the wheels on chariots as they lay on their side, and this led to the creation of roulette (but it's more like Wheel of Fortune!). Roulette was popular until World War II, until Americans began losing less in the dice game and developed an interest in blackjack, a game in which it was easy to defeat the dealer. At that point, roulette became less popular. Despite this, many people still play roulette in the same way, and it is the oldest casino game in existence today.

The History of Roulette

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