While many gamers will have played roulette or seen online roulette being played on an internet casino, few people know of its origins. Of all the online casino games over the internet, online roulette has the most interesting history.

Roulette sees players place bets on a hollow wheel fitted with a variety of numbered and coloured spaces. Interestingly, the name, roulette, is literally translated from the French word for ‘tiny wheel’.

A ball is then rolled into the wheel, eventually falling into one of the thirty-seven coloured and numbered holes. In online roulette, the laws are exactly the same.

The history of online roulette

The ancient relative to online roulette was conceived in 18th Century France. The game was first referenced in a European work of fiction, composed at the start of the century. The book, La Roulette, ou le Jour, mentions a roulette game taking place in a Paris gaming hall. 2 of the central figures accountable for this were two brothers Francois and Lois Blanc. The 2 brothers brought a primitive version of online roulette into a gaming area in Germany. After gambling was made illegal in Germany in the mid-1800s, the Blancs took their game to a casino area in Monte Carlo. Online roulette would grow from this game.

Known as the ‘King of the Casino’, the popularity of roulette quickly grew in France. From France, it is thought that Roulette flourished across Europe and then onto America during this period. The number of online roulette games on the internet are proof to its enduring success.

Unbeknownst to many players, online roulette has creepy origins. Satan is rumoured to have made a deal with Louis Blanc in order to pass him the secrets of roulette. The pact supposedly made Louis go crazy. Those with a belief in such things will be keen to know that once all the numbers are added together in an online roulette wheel, the total comes to 666; the number of the beast.

The appeal of online roulette

Roulette is a game entirely manipulated by fate. Your fate in bricks and mortar and online roulette is picked by lady luck. In online roulette, a gamer chooses a number, a colour, or both, and watch as the casino gods make a choice on your fate. Roulette wheels, either in bricks and mortar or online roulette are casino games without skill. They’re games founded on chance, destiny and a gamer’s impulses. Nothing else.

Famous roulette games

Roulette has been the star in a variety of award-winning films. From films like Casablanca, featuring Humphrey Bogart, to the 1973 thriller, The Sting, starring Robert Redford, roulette is a gaming hall game recognised for its appeal. Like bricks and mortar roulette, online roulette has a similar appeal.

By Marcus Miles
Marcus Miles is a writer for Kerching Casino. An amateur gamer, based in Manchester, United Kingdom, he has been writing about gaming-related issues for over ten years, having started his career writing about gaming in the editorial department of a regional poker magazine in Liverpool. He has been a contributor to a number of internet gaming websites.