Russian roulette is a game of chance in which a player spins a cylinder filled with six rounds of bullets. Each round has a number from one to 36. The player risks a bet on whether the next number will be odd or even.
If it is even, the player wins money; if it is odd, the player loses money. The game is also known as “croupier’s choice,” “patent blackjack,” or “baccarat.”.
The term Russian roulette likely originated in the early 1800s in France, where it was known as “roulette à jouer.” French roulette was similar to modern Russian roulette, but with two additional bets: a bet on red or black and a bet on even or odd. In 1827, an article about Russian roulette appeared in the French newspaper L’Écho de Paris.
In 1881, an article about Russian roulette appeared in Scientific American magazine. In 1896, an article about Russian roulette appeared in Harper’s Weekly magazine.
Russian roulette likely originated as a combination of two other games: French roulette and baccarat. French roulette is a game of chance in which players wager on whether the next number will be odd or even. Baccarat is a game of chance in which players wager on cards: one card face up and one card face down.
When the player bets on baccarat, he or she bets on which card will be revealed first: the face up card or the face down card. When the game was combined with Russian roulette, players bet on which round of bullets would be pulled out first: round 1, round 2, or round 3 (the last round).
