Live Roulette History

The exact origins of the game of roulette are unclear, but it is believed that the first proper roulette wheel was invented by French scientist/mathematician/philosopher Blaise Pascal in the 17th century, as a by-product of his attempts to create a perpetual motion machine. The game as it stands today was invented in the 18th century, and has changed little since then. It was one of the most popular and iconic games at the famous Monte Carlo casino, and is still associated with that casino to this day.

One lucky Roulette run

Perhaps the most famous roulette story of all time is that of Charles Wells, a small time criminal from London. In one incredibly lucky run, Wells managed to break the bank, which means to win all of the available money, at every table he played for a period of several days in 1891. His exploits were immortalised the following year in the Fred Gilbert song 'The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo'.

Roulette grows and expands

Up until the early 1970s, the only places that you could play roulette were Las Vegas and Monte Carlo. However, since then, gambling rules have been relaxed and casinos have sprung up all over the world, leading to a marked increase in the popularity of the game. While computer versions of the game have been around for many decades, it was not until the late 1990s that computerised versions of the game started to become popular, thanks to the fact that they could finally be played for real money over the internet. The online version of the game evolved greatly over the next decade or so, with ever-slicker graphics and improved security. In recent years, live roulette, in which human dealers spin real roulette wheels in front of a camera so that players at home can participate in a real casino roulette game, has become the most popular online version of the game.