Roulette: Tap to Spin
If you're looking to play a game that’s enjoyed all over the world, then look no further than Roulette - a game that has travelled the world for centuries, to arrive today at your fingertips on your chosen device.
From its humble origins in the 1600s, all the way to today, you can now find multiple variations of the game, such as Live Lightning Roulette or Quantum Roulette Live, where players are joined by a real-life dealer.
But what was the journey to make it available at the touch of an app or a click of a mouse?
Scroll through to discover the history of a casino classic.
Where it all began
The wheel found at the heart of every Roulette table and casino floor was created in 17th century France after an experiment conducted by Blaise Pascal - a French mathematician, physicist, inventor, philosopher and writer - went wrong trying to create a perpetual motion machine.
In the 17th century, the game was not as popular as it is today, and was considered illegal in some parts of Europe, however, the late 18th century saw the introduction of strict gambling rules that helped revive gambling within France, and so Roulette continued to grow in popularity.
Changing gameplay
Until 1842, there was only one version of Roulette to be found, consisting of a pocket wheel containing the numbers one to 36, alternating in red and black, along with a single green zero pocket and a double green zero pocket.
In 1842, however, two French brothers, Louis and François Blanc, who had moved to Hamburg, Germany, decided to completely remove the double zero from the wheel, which in turn lowered the house edge from 5.26% to 2.70%. This opened up the opportunity for players to receive a higher rate of return at lower odds.
As you can imagine, this version became a hit among players and eventually replaced most versions of the double zero from the European casino floor.
Today, we know this unique variation as European Roulette.
Crossing the Casino Seas
In the 19th century, Roulette sailed the seas, introducing players to the wonders of the Roulette wheel, landing in places like Louisiana, America.
However, it wasn't all smooth sailing in America.
Casino goers were not happy with the low house edge, so they decided to increase it by adding the original double zero back to the wheel and table.
This is why the double zero version of Roulette is known as American Roulette.
Digital Roulette
With the advancement of technology and the introduction of the Internet worldwide, in 1996 the first online casino opened its doors to the public, allowing players from all over the world to come in and spin their favourite wheel.
This move into the digital world not only allowed players, wherever they were, to catch a game of Roulette, but also helped introduce new players to the ionic wheel.
Since spinning on the web, Roulette has only seen its popularity grow even further and continues to grow to this day due to the ease of logging in to your favourite site, and catching a game or two from anywhere you have internet access.
