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Nowadays, online casinos are very popular. Its fun, easy access and the convenience of playing remotely are some of the main factors making it this way. On these sites, you can find a large number of games.
Among the most chosen are roulette games. This is not a new attraction in the digital format, but rather it is a classic, which has been around for many years in physical theaters and whose history goes back hundreds of years.
Next, we will review the history of this game and its role today.
The origin of roulette
The name roulette comes from the French “roulette”, which means “small wheel”. It has been taking other names, such as roulette of fortune or wheel of luck.
It is difficult to determine exactly the appearance of the first roulette. However, many historians refer to the year 1645, when the French mathematician Blaise Pascal created a primitive version. His goal was not to create a game of chance, but rather a perpetual motion machine for his research.
Traces of the first gambling roulette wheels date back to 1796. This date is described in a French novel by Jaques Lablee, called “La Roulette, ou le Jour”, which mentions a roulette machine in the Palais Royal in Paris.
These first games had two squares in favor of the house, zero and double zero. However, it was the French brothers François and Louis Blanc who designed the single-zero roulette wheel in 1843, while they were in Germany. This would be the game that was going to expand rapidly over the next few years.
The expansion of roulette
The 19th century was the time of greatest expansion and growth of roulette, when it reached the different countries of Europe and also the United States. This allowed it to be one of the most popular games of chance chosen by players.
In 1860, Germany banned gambling, so the Blanc brothers settled in Monte Carlo, the only legal casino left on the European continent. There, the gaming elite was created, and to this day it is still considered one of the most important sites in the casino industry.
While in Europe the version with only one zero dominated, something different happened in the United States. The arrival of French roulette in New Orleans, and its subsequent expansion along the Mississippi, maintained the original tradition of the double zero. Thus, American roulette was born, which is the second most popular format today.
There are even records that the first American roulette wheels had an additional symbol in the shape of an eagle. This represented the freedom of Americans and gave an additional advantage to the casino. However, this tradition was quickly abandoned and the eagle locker disappeared.
Roulette in modernity
With the arrival of the 20th century, there were two great gambling meccas: the city of Monte Carlo, where European roulette was played, and the city of Las Vegas, where American roulette was used.
Physical casinos were not as relevant, nor were they present in many places. This changed notably in the second part of the century, more precisely in the 1970s. In these years, casinos appeared all over the world, becoming a very important industry, with roulette as one of the main games.
Physical establishments were very popular until the arrival of the digital format in the 21st century, which came to dominate the industry. Thanks to the internet, users can use both desktop computers and mobile devices (cell phones or tablets) to play, without having to leave their home.
In addition, online casinos are characterized by offering a large number of games with just a few clicks. Of course, this includes roulette, as these houses allow you to play both European, American and French roulette in the same place. Not only that, but there are other types of games that take advantage of technologies to create graphics, themes and bonuses, which provide a more fun and exciting experience.
Those nostalgic for physical rooms can turn to the live casino. It is a hybrid format, where you can see a real dealer operate a gaming table, as well as the case of roulette. All the action is experienced through high definition cameras, second by second.