14 Fab Facts You’ll Wonder How You Lived Without…Sort of!

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If you consider yourself a connoisseur of the casino industry and a guru of gambling, you probably have all manner of interesting facts and figures to amaze your friends with. If not…well, it’s about time you did. Even in instances where the facts and figures aren’t of the most significant practical value, there’s always a good excuse for demonstrating your unique and vast knowledge of your niche.

This is why we’ve decided to share with our loyal friends and followers a few fabulous facts and figures about casino gaming and gambling in general. 14 interesting (and in some cases odd) factoids you’ll probably find yourself wondering how you ever lived without.

An exaggeration perhaps, but still – feast your eyes on the following and you’re bound to find something of interest in amongst the mix:

1.First up, you know a lot about casinos, but do you know where the word ‘casino’ itself actually comes from? If not, allow us to enlighten you. The word actually derives from ‘Casa’ – the Italian word for house. This is because the world’s very first casinos were based in tiny houses in the Mediterranean.

2.Chances are, you’ve experienced a few heavy losses over the years. Next time you find yourself nursing a financial hangover however, spare a thought for King Henry VIII, who once bet the bells of St Paul on a single dice-roll. And lost! Slightly embarrassing for the poor guy, if nothing else!

3.For some reason – one that we can’t clarify at this point in time – the overwhelming majority of ‘official’ poker chips used in tournaments and casinos worldwide weigh almost exactly 10 grams. This having become the unofficial standard for quality poker chips, for no specific reason.

4.If you add all the numbers together on a standard roulette wheel, the resulting total will be 666. This is why the roulette wheel is referred to in some parts of the world as “the devil’s wheel”. A slightly sinister fact to consider next time you’re positioning your chips.

5.You probably know that a standard deck of cards contains 52 unique cards. What you probably don’t know, however, is that one deck of cards can also create no less than 2.5 million different combinations of five cards. So if you’ve ever wondered why it’s so incredibly difficult to pocket a royal flush…well, now you know!

6.High-rollers based in Monaco have their pick of some of the most outstanding casinos in the world. But not all of them, as citizens of Monaco are in fact prohibited from joining the action at the Monte Carlo Casino. Due to legislation rolled out by Princess Caroline, this world-famous casino is exclusively open to foreigners and cannot legally accept a penny from Monaco citizens.

7.If you’ve ever considered trying your hand at card counting, you won’t be breaking any laws by doing so. Card counting is, contrary to popular belief, 100% legal worldwide. Nevertheless, it has a habit of going directly against the policies implemented by the casinos themselves. In turn meaning that while you may not be breaking any laws, you could still be thrown out of the casino and banned from returning for the rest of your life.

8.And just for the record, the answer is no. Card counting never has worked and never will work when playing with online casinos. The way the action plays out online is so fundamentally random and carefully controlled that card counting techniques cannot and will not work.

9.Misbehaving isn’t the only way of getting yourself banned from a casino. In fact, if you find yourself dealing with heavy losses or simply need the kind of break you don’t seem to be able to persuade yourself to take, you can actually ban yourself. Most casinos these days operate a policy whereby requesting “voluntary exclusion” for any reason whatsoever will see you banned from the premises, until the allocated period expires.

10.Food and drink provision in the average casino has evolved enormously over the years. Nevertheless, chances are you probably didn’t know that the humble sandwich was supposedly invented in a casino. All the way back in the year 1765, the fourth Earl of Sandwich is said to have ordered one of his servants to bring him a piece of meat in-between two slices of bread – simply because he couldn’t bear to walk away from his gambling at that precise moment.

11.The very first slot machines that were made available to the public weren’t positioned in casinos or gaming halls of any kind. Instead, the first slot machine ever recorded made its debut in a garage in San Francisco, helping out customers pass the time while their respective repairs were being carried out.

12.Ever heard the rumour that casinos use higher quantities of oxygen in the air to relax and somewhat intoxicate guests? How about spiking drinks with additional measures of alcohol in order to loosen up casino gamers and their wallets? In both instances, these kinds of allegations are absolute rubbish. The casino industry is so incredibly heavily regulated and controlled that it would be fundamentally impossible to get away with any such tactics.

13.If roulette is your game of choice, the vast majority of casino veterans avoid American roulette at all costs. Assuming European roulette is available, it doesn’t make any sense whatsoever to choose a version where you are statistically less likely to win. Nevertheless, thousands of dedicated gamers from all over the world continue to favour American roulette over the European version, for reasons that are beyond our comprehension!

14.Last but not least, you’d be forgiven for thinking that casinos make most of their money from the huge wads of cash being placed on table games by high-rollers. In reality, the vast majority of money the average casino earns comes from its contingency of slot machines. Hard to believe, but it’s common for casinos to earn around 70% of their total revenues from penny slots.

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