Why Is Roulette Called The Devil’s Game?

AncientPages.com - In the 17th century, Blaise Pascal, French mathematician, physicist and philosopher attempted to defy the laws of the universe by inventing a perpetual motion machine (a machine that continues to operate without drawing energy from an external source). He failed, and his invention became a primitive version of the roulette machine that is today known as the “Devils Wheel”.

The creation of the roulette wheel was an unexpected mistake on the part of Blaise Pascal.

Pascal recognized the roulette machine with 36 numbers on it without the additional zero, and it could help him to experiment with the mathematical theory of probability that has its roots in attempts to analyze games of chance. Blaise Pascal and Pierre de Fermat invented probability theory in 1654 to solve a gambling problem related to expected outcomes.

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The casino roulette was introduced in 1796 in Paris. The earliest form of the roulette was similar to the one used today. It has red and black pockets numbered from 1 to 36.

To compete with other casinos at the time, two French brothers François and Louis Blanc developed the single 0 roulette wheel in 1843.

François Blanc (1806 – 1877) was a clever and successful business who owned the famous Monte Carlo casino. By introducing the single 0 style roulette wheel, he could compete against the casinos of Paris which offered the traditional wheel with both single and double zero house pockets. His roulette offered better odds to the players.

The Roulette’s Connection To The Devil

In time, the roulette became famous as the Devil’s game. It was said that playing roulette was so addictive that the player must have become possessed by the Devil.

There was a legend according to which François Blanc supposedly bargained with the Devil to obtain the secrets of roulette. The legend is based on the fact that the sum of all the numbers on the roulette wheel (from 0 to 36) is 666, which is the "Number of the Beast".

Due to its appearance in the Holy Bible, the number 666 has for centuries been associated with the anti-Christ.

In Revelation 13, John describes a vision of two great beasts. One is a seven-headed monster that rises up from the sea and the other is a dragon-like demon that cracks through the earth. The passage ends with Biblical warning: “Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is six hundred threescore and six.”

So, a common nickname for the roulette is the “The Devil's Game” or “The Devil’s Wheel”.

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