In fact, there is a written reference to the game as early as 1758 but it wasn’t until later that the game really began to gain popularity, spreading throughout Europe via merchants and traders. One undeniable fact is that by the late 18th century, France – and Paris in particular – was enthralled with the game, an 1801 novel describing roulette almost exactly as we know it.
In fact, as early as the 17th century a French physicist, Blaise Pascal, may have invented what could be viewed as the first ever roulette wheel when he was attempting to create a perpetual motion machine… the world energy issue’s loss is our gain then I guess! It is felt that roulette was preceded by a number of games, including various English wheel games such as Roly-Poly and Ace of Hearts, and also some existing Italian and French games.
