The history of Roulette is rich, and dates back far in the history books. In fact, primitive forms of Roulette were played by Ancient Greeks and Roman soldiers alike, as they would spin weapons, chariot wheels, or whatever they could find, and bet on the outcomes. In the modern-day, you can play Roulette online and at land-based casinos, as it’s become a staple table game in many establishments. The wheel as we know it, though, was actually invented by accident, in 1655, by French mathematician and physicist Blaise Pascal, which leads us to the first of our iconic figures in Roulette history…
Read on to find out more.
Blaise Pascal
In his attempt to defy physics and create a perpetual motion machine, avid inventor and gambler Blaise Pascal birthed the primitive version of the Roulette wheel we know and love today. It’s said that the game itself was inspired by other popular games at the time such as Roly Poly, Ace of Hearts, Even-Odd and Biribi.
Francois Blanc
Our next iconic figure in Roulette history is Francois Blanc. Known as the Wizard of Hamburg, Francois and his brother Louis moved from their hometown in France to Hamburg, where their new idea revolutionised Roulette. In 1843, the brothers removed the green double zero from the Roulette wheel, leaving only the green single zero pocket and lowering the house edge from 5.26% to 2.70%. Naturally, the game with higher winning chances rose in popularity, later becoming known as European Roulette.
In fact, this version of the wheel became so popular that Prince Charles of Monaco sought out a partnership with Francois, who built the iconic Monte Carlo Casino in his honour. The European Roulette wheel took centre stage in what was known as the first modern casino of its time.
Charles Wells
For this Roulette icon, we’re staying put in the heart of the Monte Carlo Casino, where Charles Wells took the title of The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo. In 1891, Wells took a turn playing Roulette at the casino. It is thought that he won a total of 23 spins out of 30, breaking the bank so that the table he was playing at no longer had any money, and walking away with just under a million francs. But that’s not all. Wells went back to the casino years later, bagging himself another million francs whilst playing Roulette.
John Henry Martindale
Whilst some claim that it was a Frenchman named Jean Ville that created the Martingale system in the 1930s, others believe it was devised by a British casino owner named John Henry Martindale. One of the most popular and commonly used Roulette strategies, the method is not advisable for beginners, or really anyone for that matter, however it has changed the way some people choose to play the game of chance.
The concept behind the strategy is pretty simple. It involves increasing your bet after every loss, so when you eventually win, you’ll get your money back, so will start betting with the initial amount again, and so on.
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