The history of Roulette is full of wonderful legends and colorful characters. It is often difficult to differentiate myth from reality, but gathered below are some of the more enduring tales of Roulette players and their adventures, all of which contain at least some grains of truth along with a few downright lies.

Blaise Pascal (1623~1662) – The French mathematician is credited with developing the smoothly spinning mechanism used for Roulette wheels to this day, but there is no truth to the claim that he ever played the game himself. His original design was drawn up in the 17^th century for the creation of an unsuccessful perpetual motion machine. The game of Roulette was not invented until a century after his death.

Henry Martingale (circa 1790) – This proprietor of a London gambling house in the latter part of the 18^th century is credited with the invention of a betting system that bears his name. But the very same system, “doubling up on a loss,” was played by Casanova at the Ridotto Casino in Venice as early as 1754. Although there are no records indicating that Martingale promoted the system’s use, he will forever be associated with it, while Casanova will be remembered for…other deeds.

Francois and Louis Blanc (circa 1840) – These two brothers are credited with the invention of the single-zero Roulette wheel. Prior to their introduction of the so-called “European Wheel” in German casinos in 1842, all Roulette wheels had both a zero and a double zero, as the American Wheel still does. There is no truth to the myth that Americans added the double zero. And there is probably no validity to the story that the brothers made a pact with the Devil to come up with this way of drawing more players to their Roulette games.

Joseph Jaggers (1830~1892) – This British engineer researched the wheels at the Monte Carlo Casino in 1873 and discovered a bias for certain numbers. He is said to have ended up winning the equivalent of $325,000, “breaking the bank” along the way. But it is not true that he made the famous casino file for bankruptcy. To “break the bank” means cleaning a single table out of it designated cash reserve. His adventure is also often incorrectly credited with inspiring the song, “The Man Who Broke the Bank in Monte Carlo.” (See below)

Charles Deville Wells (1841-1926) – In 1891, this London hustler used £4,000 that he had defrauded from investors to win all the money available at each table he played for several days in the Monte Carlo Casino. Police investigated, certain that he had somehow cheated, but they never found any signs of wrong-going. Wells later said that he “simply had a lucky streak.” The 1892 hit song by Fred Gilbert entitled “The Man Who Broke the Bank in Monte Carlo,” was actually written in his honor.

Norman Leigh (circa 1960) – In 1966, this supposed con man and his team of a dozen accomplices allegedly won the equivalent of $163,000 at the Roulette tables of the Casino Municipale in Nice, France. Two weeks later, all of them were banned from every casino in the country—not because they had cheated, but because they had used a Reverse Roulette Betting System to win methodically and consistently. Their exploits are the subject of Leigh’s 1976 book, “Thirteen Against the Bank,” which many critics have decried as a complete work of fiction. Myth or not, the story makes for a fun reading.

Ashley Revell (1972~) – In 2004, this Londoner sold everything he owned, including all his clothes, to travel to Las Vegas and “bet it all” on a single spin of the Roulette wheel. Initially, no casino would accept his $135,300 wager. Then, the Plaza Hotel-Casino stepped forward. Revell thought about betting black, but was dissuaded by British Sky Channel viewers of the internationally televised event. He ended up risking everything on red. The ball dropped in the #7-red pocket—a winner! Revell gathered up his winnings, returned to London, and later opened an online poker network. It may sound like the stuff myths are made of, but it is all true.