7 Funny and Interesting Facts About Roulette You (probably) Didn’t Know

Roulette isn’t referred to as the queen of casino games for no reason. One of the most popular casino games and arguably one of the most famous around the world, roulette – in some shape or form – has appealed to first-time gamblers and seasoned professionals for centuries.  Due to the fact that the game has been around for a couple hundred years, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that there are many interesting stories and facts linked to it.

How many of these 7 fun facts about roulette do you know?

1. The Number of the Beast – A common nickname for roulette is the “The Devil’s Game”. If you’ve ever heard this before but don’t know why, the reason is when all the numbers on the roulette wheel are added up (no matter the roulette variant) they total 666.
2. Red or Black: There’s Always a 50/50 Chance (besides zero) – Just because a black number hits, this doesn’t mean that red will result on the next spin. In fact, the chance of hitting the same color 10 consecutive times is only 1 in 1024. However, the biggest record for the number of times the same color was hit in a row occurred in Bristol, England where red hit 36 consecutive times!
3. Roly Poly Inspiration – The word “Roulette” is an adaptation of the French term “little wheel” and the game is believed to have been inspired by French mathematician and scientist Blaise Pascal who came up with the mathematics field of probability and invented a device similar to the roulette wheel back in 1657. Interestingly, however, more recently it has been believed that the game may have been inspired by Roly Poly, a 17th century English even and odd spinning wheel and ball game.
4. The man who (literally) bet it all and won – English gambler Ashley Revell sold all his worldly possessions and with the resulting $135,000+ money, he famously bet all of it at the Plaza Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas on a single roulette spin. Placing all he had on red – in what most would consider to be a crazy move at best – Rvell won! After doubling his money, he reportedly used his winnings to set up Poker UTD, an online poker company that ironically went out of business in 2012.
5. “California Roulette” – California has a variety of gambling laws and one of them is that a deck of cards is the only device permitted to generate win results. Since the device used in roulette is a wheel, this would make the game illegal in California. However, clever casinos have found a way around the law by offering “California Roulette”, which is played with cards instead of a spinning wheel and a ball. The odds and payouts of the game remain the same as roulette. The only difference is the device that is used to obtain the results.
6. No drinks at the table, please – While its deemed appropriate to have your drink with you when you play other casino games at tables like blackjack and baccarat, this is a big no-no at the roulette table, so you might want to wait to enjoy a complimentary drink after you play. Of course, the only exception would be if you played roulette online where etiquette rules are a little more lax. Then you could put your drink wherever you wanted. In fact, depending on the online casino, you may even be able to play your favorite casino game with no deposit, too.
7. 17 and 22 – Did you know that 17 is the most commonly played number on the roulette wheel? The reason – as any James Bond fan would know – is it’s believed to be 007’s favorite number and the one he plays. It also happens to be centrally located on the table. Another popular number among roulette players is 22, the number famously associated with a casino scene in This same number also pops up in the movies Indecent Proposal and Lost in America.