The History Of Casino Games

The History Of Casino Games

The casino is derived from the Italian word “little house”.These houses were used for parties where people socialized with games of chances, music and dancing. In 1861, the first casino was established in Monaco. Later in 1960, real money gambling was legalized in the United States.

The first modern roulette wheel was designed by Francois and Lois Blanc in 1842 and introduced the number 0 in the wheel. The wheel was made as per the orders of King Charles III to increase the chances of the house winning by adding more numbers. This game might have been influenced by other English games such as Even-Odd, Italian Biribi,  Ace of Hearts, Hoca and Roly Poly.

Table card games also date back a long time. The French are credited with the introduction of a modern card game which has recognizable symbols like the hearts, diamonds. Clubs and spades. The earliest forms of card games date back to the 11th century from the Chinese Turkestan. Different types of cards have been found around the world such as Dominoes by The Chinese and round tokens by the Indians. Poker was named by the French from the Persian game ‘As Nas’. Throughout the years, the game spread across a number of places before becoming one of the most popular casino games in the world.

Blackjack is believed to be a descendant of another similar game known as Trente et Un where the player had to get as close to the number 31. Some believe that Blackjack comes from Spain with its first original version (One and Thirty) played like a three card Blackjack. In this variant, the players had to get as close to 31 as possible.

Dice gaming came into existence from the early game of bone rolling. This game is probably one of the oldest gambling game (probably even predating the card games). The game originally existed in Egypt where bone rolling was some form of fortune telling. The Dice that we know today first originated in Korea where it was used in a Buddhist dice game known as Promotion. Nowadays, dices are used in several casino games like Sic Bo and Craps.

The 1890s saw the introduction of the first slot machine by Charles Fey in California. In the UK, the slot machines were known as Fruit machines and became an integral part of the casino scenes there making up over 70% of the casino floor space. With time, the slot machines became more sophisticated and started including more reel and payrolls. The online video poker slots were created as a result of the introduction of the first online slots.

There are two leading theories on the origin of slot machines. The first theory is that the original slot machine known as the Liberty Bell Machine was invented in 1887 by American Charles Fey. The second theory states that the first five card poker slot machine was created in 1891 by  Sittman and Pitt.

In 1994, the first online casino was launched. It was powered by the now popular software provider, Microgaming. The casino was the first to introduce the online version of slots, Blackjack and Roulette. Soon after, other gaming providers such as Cryptologic, Net Entertainment and Playtech started appearing in the online casino gaming scenario.

The first online casino in the UK was launched in 1996.  The casino was made with a lot of excitement in the gambling community. Players were hyped about the internet gambling scenario.

The introduction of online casinos in the 1990s revolutionized the gambling industry. The gamblers could now play casino games from the comfort of their homes. Online casino games have a long way to go. With the introduction of live casino games lately, it seems like the best is yet to come. With faster internet connections, virtual reality casino games will become the next big thing.

From their simple beginnings to the extravagant Vegas casinos, these casino games had one hell of a journey.

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