The first Roulette Wheel ?

[ian]

The story goes that in 1842 or 3 Francois and Louis Blanc added a 0 to a wheel first designed in 17th century France by the mathematician Blaise Pascal.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roulette

They then took the device to Bad Homburg in Germany and opened an operation which thrived until the 1860's when the German Government banned gambling. The Blanc's then moved to Monte Carlo and were involved with what was for perhaps the best part of 100 years - Europe's most successful and famous casino.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monte_Carlo_Casino


But what did early Roulette wheels look like ?

Obviously from this 1858 Dutch diagram not too different from what they look like today !


http://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=ur...1:Br-A-1858-S1

The layout's not too different either from a normal French Roulette. Even the ones in use on the Internet.
http://www.roulettejam.com/images/sc...h-roulette.gif


The Dutch image was found after doing a search on the EU document website.
http://www.europeana.eu

If you find any other roulette wheel info, old images etc... on your travels please feel free to post them, or you can always email me the relevant links


Ian

[ian]

Nothing new under the the sun so they say


It's obviously true of guides to playing and the rules of casino and card games.
Here are several titles going back over 300 years.


Auf Deutche. Circa 1860.

Der perfecte Kartenspieler oder practische Anleitung zur leichten Erlernung von 86 Kartenspielen
http://www.digitale-sammlungen.de/~d...014695/images



1788, and now in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France

La théorie des jeux de hasard, ou Analyse du krabs, du passe-dix, de la roulette, du trente& quarante, du pharaon, du biribi & du lotto
http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k1104995


Edmond Hoyle's - Mr. Hoyle's Games Complete 1750
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmond_Hoyle


The Complete Gamester - England 1674
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Cotton



Ian

[Forte Fan]

Ian,

Back in 2003 while researching the history of roulette and, in particular, the American wheel, I put my findings into a word document.

To this day I have been unable to determine who designed the American wheel:

The History of Roulette

The origin of Roulette is unclear, although theories certainly abound. Many believe that traders or monks transported a wheel-based game originating in ancient China to Europe. Others believe that the European game derived from ancient Greek warriors spinning a round shield on the point of a broken sword driven into the earth. Some claim that Roulette evolved from the Roman Legionnaires’ pastime of turning their chariots over sideways and spinning the wheel horizontally on its axle, allowing them to bet on the segment of the wheel that came to rest under an indictor. Roman Emperor Augustus supposedly mounted a chariot wheel on a horizontal axle in his personal “game room.”

Regardless of its true origin, Roulette has always been associated with France, and rightfully so. “Roule” means “wheel” in French, and “Roulette” loosely means “small wheel.” Many credit French philosopher, scientist and mathematician Blaise Pascal with the invention of the game during his experiments with perpetual motion in 1657. However, although it is believed that Pascal did name the wheel and ball device used in his experiments “Roulette,” there is no evidence indicating that he ever intended or used his equipment as a game of chance.

A predecessor of the modern game known as Hoca reportedly appeared in the early 18th Century in France, Austria, Hungary and Germany. Hoca was followed by Roly-Poly, in 1720, and after that game was outlawed in 1739, “E-O” (Even-Odd) was introduced in Bath, England. EO, despite its simplicity and popularity with the ladies, was outlawed several years later, although its play reportedly continued until the early 19th Century when it was permanently replaced by Roulette.

Roulette, as we know it, made its debut in Paris in 1765 at the urging of police lieutenant Gabriel de Sartine, who hoped that the new game would eliminate the wide-spread cheating afflicting the citizens of Paris at the time. The game was an immediate success.

The introduction of the single-zero wheel is attributed to the Blanc brothers, Louis and Francois, who, when France outlawed gambling in the 1840’s, brought their new variation to Hamburg, Bavaria. Theorizing that the popularity of their wheel would rise due to its lower house retention ratio (5.19% vs. 2.7%) and subsequently increase their overall yield, the Blanc brothers were proven right: the single-zero wheel was a tremendous financial and social success, and would later become the backbone of the world’s most famous casino, Monte Carlo.

continued....

[Forte Fan]

...conitinued:

The Roulette wheel was introduced in the United States in New Orleans, Louisiana, at the turn of the 19th Century. Recognizing that the double-zero Roulette wheel doubled the house percentage over the single-zero wheel, the denizens of The Big Easy reasoned that they could triple their cut by adding a third symbol to the wheel, an American eagle. Customers shunned the game and its impossible odds. The eagle symbol was then removed, and the double-zero wheel became the nation’s standard. After more than two centuries, the double-zero wheel is still referred to as The American Roulette Wheel.

It appears that there are additional dissimilarities between the American wheel and the original European wheel, other than the added “00.”

The numbers around the circumferences of both the American and European wheels alternate between Red and Black. However, the similarity ends there. While the placement of the numbers on the European wheel appear otherwise unsystematic, the numbers on the American wheel are quite methodical:

• Consecutive numbers are located directly opposite each other;

• Numbers of the same color alternate between Odd and Even around the wheel; and

• Pairs of consecutive numbers of the same color, such as Black “4” and Black “33” total 37. (There are two exceptions: The Black 28 [adjacent to the “0”] and the Red “9” next to it total 37; and the Red “27” [adjacent to the “00”] and the Black 10 next to it total 37.)

Quite amazingly, the designer of the American wheel is unknown. One would think that the person creating such a clever arrangement would have gained notoriety.

[Zera Spiel]

Dixit Mr Leblanc: ' que ce soit le rouge ou le noir qui sort, c'est Leblanc qui gagne'
Whether the number is red or black, its Leblanc (White) who wins

[valers]

But who determined the order of the numbers on a French (European) wheel?
Anybody know if there is some kind of reason for the sequence?
Can't find anything on the Internet, any suggestions would be really appreciated.

[Forte Fan]

That's a question I've been asking since I discovered the pattern on the American wheel back in the early 1980's, Valers, but have yet to get an answer to, which prompted this statement above:

While the placement of the numbers on the European wheel appear otherwise unsystematic, the numbers on the American wheel are quite methodical:

I, too, am still interested in the origin of the French wheel pattern.

FF

[Tony Mc]

The French/European wheel was obviously desgined for the section bets. Other than that, with zero at the 12 o'clock position, the high reds and low blacks are on the right of the wheel, and vice versa for the left of the wheel.

Any other patterns or logic behind it?

[ian]

I've often wondered why no one has added a low-black/high-black or low-red/high-red bet to the layout. Quite simple - 9 of each would pay 3 to 1.


Tony Mc,

Not sure about the wheel design being conceived to accommodate the three French section bets. Maybe they were discovered at a later date when the table layout was finalised ?

Interesting argument, time for a think....


Also interesting is the switch over from Red/Black to Black/Black at 10/11, Red/Red at 18/19 and Black/Black at 28/29. Why not simply maintain the Red/Black sequence for the complete 36 number series ?

The answer to that is then there would never have been any Red or Black Cheval bets. A side effect being that there are 4 Blacks in the 3rd Column and 8 in the middle.


With the size of the French table, the often crowded gaming halls and the ornate clothing worn by players - Operators of the time must have quickly recognised the importance of announced bets to the efficiency and profitability of the game.


So thinking again you're probably right Tony otherwise several of the numbers could easily have ended up being placed in different positions on the wheel.


http://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=ur...1:Br-A-1858-S1



Ian