François Blanc

François Blanc ( born December 12, 1806 Courthézon, Vaucluse, France, † July 27, 1877 in Leukerbad, Valais, Switzerland ) was a French mathematician and financier. Blanc calculated for a friend the odds and developed the game of Roulette and took the Zéro (zero) and Doublezéro ( double zero ) as the 37th and 38th numbers in the roulette wheel in order to guarantee the house edge.

François was first in Bordeaux along with his identical twin brother Louis (1806-1850) worked in the banking business. They earned money with insider trading by bringing the price fluctuations of the Paris Stock Exchange in early experience. The information was provided about the time the civil service reserved for optical telegraph system, which the bribery of officials made ​​it necessary to allow private use.

After this had been compromised, the brothers operated only banking and stock market speculation in Paris, then in Luxembourg, a small casino. After negotiations with the then governor of Luxembourg, Landgrave Ludwig of Hesse -Homburg, and then his successor Philip of Hesse -Homburg, they founded in 1841 the casino in Homburg. There the Doppelzéro was abolished at roulette at the instigation of Louis. Thus, the odds for the game ends, so that the attraction of the casino of Bad Homburg grew up increased.

1863 Blanc received a 50 - year concession to operate a casino in Monaco. In order to facilitate the then arduous journey to Monaco, he negotiated with the French authorities and railway companies on the construction of a coastal road and a railway line along the French Riviera, which he co-financed from the proceeds of the casino.

After his death in 1877 his widow Marie Blanc took over his position as general manager of the casino company of Monte Carlo.