Roulette Through the Years
Have you ever thought that the popular casino game " roulette" now can be credited to a very influential mathematician, physician and religious philosopher who lived in the 16th century?
This mathematician made early contributions in the fields of geometry, probability, economics and science. His extraordinary theories were even recognized today as his name was given another definition in a computer's popular programming language.
Blaise Pascal who was born in France in 1623 invented the hydraulic press and the syringe. However he is also credited by the gambling industry for being at the forefront in developing the roulette wheel. Pascal devised the first roulette wheel after being fascinated by the world of perpetual motion. It was in the year 1655 when Pascal's fascination led him to devise a perpetual motion device, which is now known as the roulette wheel.
In 1796, roulette started catching the fancies of Paris and since then, this form of roulette game has been played. The game has proven to be popular as its number of players increased not only in Europe. In the early 1800s, roulette was brought to the United States. The game had included the "0" which was added by two Frenchmen Francois and Louis Blanc and adapted a second "00" to further improve the house odds. Roulette started to spread throughout Europe and the United States and became one of the most popular and most played casino games. In the 1800s, the game got a new title of "King of Casino Games" as it was number one across the board.
Roulette has been considered an intriguing game after some legends stated that Francois Blanc had dealt with the devil in understanding the secrets of roulette. Many believed this legend to be true citing the fact that if you add up all the numbers on the roulette wheel, its sum would be 666. The number has been known as the "number of the beast."
A famous roulette player, Joseph Jagger, tried to further understand roulette after his own fascination in the game. He commissioned six clerks in 1873 to record the results of the roulette wheels. Jagger found out that one number could come up many times over the others and he was able to rake in a lot of money before the casino management took notice.
Roulette is now more than four centuries old and the game is still gaining popularity as more and more new people discover the fun offered by such a grand classic casino game.