Purists have never looked favorably at gambling because of its over-blown reputation for creating addicts. But people REALLY question the sanctity of roulette due to the fact that when its numbers (1-36) are added up, they equal 666.

If you're familiar with Christianity, the New Testament refers to 666 as the "Number of the Beast." This scripture has spawned a modern day belief that 666 is satanic and represents the Devil or Antichrist. So it's no surprise that roulette has been given the billing of the "Devil's Game."

A Deal with the Devil

Roulette first earned its reputation as a satanic gambling game in the mid-eighteenth century, when Francois and Louis Blanc invented European roulette. The brothers were trying to find a way to transform the beautiful spa town of Bad Homburg, Germany into a popular gaming destination. So in the 1840's, they removed the house-friendly 00 from the roulette wheel, which is where the difference between American roulette (0 and 00) and European roulette (just 0) comes into play.

Because there was one less house-friendly number on the wheel, the European game dropped the house edge from 5.26% to 2.70%. This intrigued many high rollers, who traveled to Bad Homburg in droves to take advantage of the lower house edge.

Unfortunately, Louis Blanc didn't have long to relish this success because he died in 1950. However, Francois lived much longer and enjoyed the success of the new roulette variation, leading many to speculate that he made a deal with the devil to obtain roulette secrets.

Of course, much of this myth derives again from the fact that the sum of 1-36 equals 666. So using this logic, both American and European roulette would be cursed since the house-friendly zeros aren't counted in the sum.

A Fear that Still Exists

Many gamblers today are unaware of the fact that roulette numbers equal the Number of the Beast. However, some people are all too aware of this point and completely avoid playing roulette.

Those who avoid anything associated with the number 666 are said to have hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia. And this phobia spills out into roulette since some players will never even try the game due to their beliefs.

Of course, logic tells us that there's nothing to fear when playing roulette. But some people still stick to the notion that roulette might bring a curse upon them due to the Francois Blanc legend and Devil's Game aspects.