Soldiers would draw symbols on the inside of a shield, then put it face-down on the ground and place an arrow next to it. One particular game is pretty similar to modern-day roulette. Greek soldiers also had their fair share of gambling games to enjoy while not dodging arrows and spears. Many of those games involved spinning a shield or a chariot wheel, which is close to how roulette is played.

To combat this, Roman commanders would let their soldiers have as much fun as possible – including participation in gambling games. This was more than enough to bring the soldiers’ morale down, thus reducing their effectiveness on the battlefield. Aside from the short life expectancy, they also had to deal with witnessing their friends and comrades being constantly wounded and murdered in battle. Killing Time in Ancient Romeīeing a soldier in ancient Rome was not a particularly fun and perspective occupation. Still, it’s true that the numbers on the modern roulette wheel add up to 666 – which is pretty cryptic. The problem with this story is that even the earliest French roulette had both a zero and a double zero slot – so the whole ‘ancient Chinese game’ theory is probably not true. The monks allegedly changed the layout, making the square a circle and adding a special slot for the number zero. Unfortunately, no one can find specific information on how the original Chinese game was actually played.

The game was discovered by Dominican monks who were deeply involved with all aspects of Chinese life and was later brought to Europe by them, with slight modifications.

Many people believe that roulette is based on an ancient Chinese board game that involved arranging 37 animal figurines into a magic square with numbers that total 666. Let’s take a look at a few curious cases from the rich history of the world. However, evidence shows that many ancient civilizations played games quite similar to roulette.

The most widely accepted version is that the first incarnation of the game was created by French math wizard and accomplished nerd Blaise Pascal somewhere in the 17th century, while he was hard at work trying to create a perpetual motion machine. The origins of the game known as ‘roulette’ are shrouded in mystery. Fun Fact #1 Roulette is a French word that means ‘little wheel’

Roulette table image double zero