Roulete History: Gambling in France, American vs. European, Russian Roulette

The game of roulete originated in France, whence the name itself is a French word meaning 'small wheel'. Roulette history began with mathematician Blaise Pascal, who in 17th century France was believed to have invented the earliest form of the roulette wheel. It came about as Pascal was taken into creating perpetual motion devices.

Roulette in French gambling history dates back to 1796 in Paris, accounting for the first records of roulette as it is played in its present form. Two other Frenchmen, François and Louis Blanc, are credited for adding 0 (zero) as a house edge to the game in 1842, giving way to what is now European Roulette, the single zero roulette.

Come the early 1800s, roulette was exported to the United States, this time, making use of 00 (double zeroes) to further increase the house advantage. In those days, American Roulette, the double zero roulette, made use of an American Eagle in place of two zeroes.

Roulette came to be dubbed as King of Casino Games, owing to its popularity in Monte Carlo casinos, their earliest incarnations built incidentally by Francois Blanc. As early as the 19th century, roulette had transitioned from a curious wheel device to a sought-after casino gambling game all over Europe and the Americas.

The game has since been surrounded not only by gamblers' tales but more enigmatic accounts. One such story goes that Francois Blanc sold his soul to the devil in exchange for the secrets of roulette. A highlight of this story is that adding roulette wheel numbers 1 through 36 yields the sum of 666, the 'Number of the Beast'.

Adding fuel to the fire is the legendary game of Russian Roulette. In a typical scenario, a single live round is placed in one of six chambers of a revolver, the cylinder spun then closed off, and the player points the revolver to his temple and pulls the trigger. With the location of the loaded chamber left unknown, the player has one in six chances at death.

Russian Roulette is arguably the highest-stakes gambling game, albeit more fictional than real by account, as in the movie The Deer Hunter or the TV show 24. Before all those, the game may have sprung in real-life situations of suicide amongst 19th century Russian soldiers held prisoner and looking for 'a way out' of their maddening conditions at camp.

A variation of Russian Roulette is Russian Poker, the main difference being that the gun is pointed at one's opponent rather than oneself in the latter. Russian Roulette has also evolved into a drinking game, such as Mindstone Roulette in Canada (a shot glass of strong alcohol to five shot glasses of water), or Beer Hunter (one can in a beer six-pack is shaken then put back).