French Society in the 1650's Gambling was popular and fashionable ■Not restricted by law ■As the games became more complicated and the stakes became larger there was a need for mathematical methods for computing chances. History of Probability 2History of Probability 2 French Society in the 1650’s ! Gambling was popular and fashionable ! Not restricted by law ! As the games became more complicated and the stakes became larger there was a need for mathematical methods for computing chances