Roulette is thought to be a French game according to its origin. In the 17th century Blaise Pascal invented it. He was a mathematician who was fond of creating of perpetual motion.

The game has been played since the end of 18th century in Paris, and the “0″ appeared on the wheel in 1842. It was added by Frenchmen Francois and Louis Blanc to increase a house edge.

In the beginning of the 19 century, the game crossed the Atlantic and appeared in the USA where it was added a second zero, “00″, to further raise the house edge.

In the 19 century, roulette was one of the most popular games all around Europe and the US. It was often called the “King of Casino Games”, because of the casinos glamour in Monte Carlo and the French Riviera.

In the early 19 century, Prince Charles, the ruler of Monaco, brought Roulette to Monaco. He introduced the game to its citizens. He and Louis Blanc founded the Monte Carlo Casino that is the real Mecca for European gamblers.

Roulette is thought to be the devil game since if to sum up all the numbers from 1 to 36 depicted on the roulette wheel, the result will be “666″, that is everyone knows the number of The Beast. They say, Francois Blanc closed a deal with the devil to get the roulette secrets.

There are some theories that assure that the game did appear in China, and trading between China and Dominican monks resulted in the fact that it was brought to Europe. One more theory says the Romans played the game where they spun the chariot wheels so this led to invention of roulette.

Roulette got popular before World War II. But then Americans realized that they lost less while they were playing craps and they became interested in blackjack because it proved to be a beatable game. And Roulette started to lose its popularity. But regardless of the fact many people keep on playing it, and roulette is one of the oldest casino games now. In spite of the fact that American double-zero, and European single-zero versions were played in Europe, the double zero wheel is known as the American Roulette, because it is preferred by the US players, while Europeans would rather play the single-zero roulette.