Roulette is known as one of the most popular casino games in the world, with the roulette wheel being synonymous with chance and luck. Despite roulette being known as a fairly simple and uncomplicated casino game, there are plenty of things that you probably didn’t know about the chance-based game. With it now being available as a live casino game the audience has only grown. Here, we will look through a bunch of interesting and fascinating facts that all have to do with the casino game of roulette!
Roulette Was Not Meant To Be a Casino Game
Despite the Roulette wheel being one of the most well-known casino items in the world, it was originally never meant to be created as the inventor of the wheel was aiming for a different type of creation. The roulette wheel was invented by a French physicist, inventor and mathematician named Blaise Pascal. Initially, Pascal was not trying to invent a casino game, as he was trying to invent a perpetual motion machine in 1655. A perpetual motion machine is a machine that continues to operate without using energy from an external source; Pascal was an enthusiastic inventor and looked to challenge the laws of physics here. With his experiment failing, the process gave birth to one of the most popular casino games of all time!
There Are Several Variants of Roulette
With most casino players knowing about the European and American roulette tables, these are not the only different roulette tables available. With the European wheel having 37 pockets and the American wheel having 38 pockets due to the added double zero (00) symbol, there are other additional roulette wheels available, such as French Roulette, Mini Roulette and Lightning Roulette.
The Numbers Add Up to 666
Roulette is a game which comes with many different nicknames, such as ‘White Ball’; however, ‘The Devil’s Game’ stands out the most as it is given this name for a very specific reason. If all of the numbers that feature on a roulette wheel are added up together, then you will end up with the number 666! This specific number is known throughout many cultures as the number of the devil and the number of the beast, making for quite a spooky and eerie fact!
17 Is Roulettes’ Most Played Number
When it comes to choosing numbers to bet on in roulette, many players might have a specific lucky number they go to, or they might randomly choose and hope for the best. However, there is a common occurrence of players placing bets on the number 17, which is the most wagered number on the wheel across the entire world. Whether this be because of the central positioning of the number on the table, or perhaps since James Bond chose this number in the movie, ‘Diamonds Are Forever’, who knows!
The Ball and Wheel Spin in Opposite Directions
With the first design of the game being a perpetual motion machine, the core fundamentals of the machine are still in operation today in the standard roulette games. Whenever the dealer gets the wheel spinning in a clockwise direction, the ball will always spin anti-clockwise. Some casinos require the dealer to change the spinning direction every couple of spins.
Roulette Balls Were Made Out of Ivory
Roulette balls were originally made out of elephant tusks, but today, they are made from either ceramic or plastic. Ceramic balls tend to replicate ivory in terms of weight. However, plastic balls tend to be lighter, therefore making them more erratic.
It is Impossible to Cheat at Roulette
With roulette being a game which is 100% chance-based, there is basically no way for players to cheat when playing roulette. Licensed casinos are regularly required to inspect their equipment to ensure the set-up is 100% legit and safe to play. This means once the bet has been played, the game is completely up to luck and chance.
One of the Most Famous Roulette Stories
When it comes to placing bets on roulette or in any casino game, players might think about taking risks; well, this is what Ashley Revell did in 2004 and unlike almost every other player, the risk paid off! Travelling to Vegas, he sold all his possessions and went all in on red on a single spin, and with luck on his side, the ball landed on red, doubling his wealth from $135,000 to $270,000. The ball had landed on red 7, meaning if he had theoretically placed a bet on number 7, he would have been awarded $4,725,000!
Roulette Étiquette
Just like certain activities such as golf, there are certain behaviours associated with Roulette which are expected to be carried out by all players, with some of the examples of good behaviour in Roulette being:
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Buy and cash chips between spins. Do not interrupt the game
- Do not eat at the roulette table
- Place your chips down on the table, ensuring the dealer knows what type of bet you have placed, and avoid accidentally hitting other players’ chips.
Californians Play Roulette with Cards
California has some pretty strange gambling laws, with one of them banning the use of the traditional roulette wheel. As a result, casinos offer California roulette, which is played with cards rather than a spinning wheel and a ball. The rest of the mechanics are exactly the same, with the only difference being the methodology used to generate the results.
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