There is a lot of interesting trivia attached to a number of gambling games. Here is some interesting trivia about some of the popular gambling games.
- Craps is one of the most popular gambling games in our country. Did you know that the game got its name from the French Creoles of New Orleans, Johnny Crapauds, who used his own name to give the game its nickname?
- Did you know that at one point in time, tarot cards were used to play the game of Baccarat?
- The Caribbean Stud Poker has won worldwide popularity over time. Did you know that this particular variation of the game is inspired by a game called Primera, which was played in the 16th century?
- Did you know that the French Roulette wheel is different from other roulette wheels. Unlike the roulette wheels we see in our casinos, the French roulette wheel has 37 numbers- 0 to 36.
- Did you know that an Italian gambler by the name of Felix Falguiere invented the game of Bacarrat in the Middle Ages?
- Surely, you have heard of Strip Poker. But, did you know that this variation of poker originated as early as 1830 in Louisiana in the city of New Orleans?
- Did you know that the oldest recorded game in the world is Backgammon? Although known by many different names, it was the first recorded games and is known to have originated in Mesopotamia.
- Did you know that you owe Blackjack team play to a guy named Al Franesco, who invented the technique?
- Did you know that we have given very culturally specific monikers to a pair of dice? In different parts of the country, a pair of dice is known as ‘Memphis Dominoes’, ‘Snake Eyes’, ‘Mississippi Marbles’ or ‘Boxcars’.
- Did you know that the original name of Blackjack was ‘Ving-et-un’?
Many people around the world enjoy the thrill of gambling once in a while. But, did you know that gamblers can be classified into several types? Here are the types of gamblers. See if you can recognize yourself in one of them.
- Casual Social Gambler: This is the most common type of gambler. For such gamblers, gambling is just like any other form of entertaining activity. They will gamble infrequently.
- Serious Social Gambler: For such people, gambling is one of the main entertaining activities compared to any other form. These gamblers will gamble more frequently and will gamble with a lot of passion and interest.
- Relief/Escape Gambler: Such gamblers seek an escape from real life through gambling. For them, most of the time spent outside home and office is spent in gambling. Gambling is more than just a pastime.
- Compulsive Gambler: For such gamblers, gambling is one of the most important activities of life. Everything else takes a secondary place, including work, family and friends. They live to be able to gamble. These gamblers will gamble as frequently as they are able to.
- Professional Gambler: For these gamblers, gambling is the main source of income. They earn their livelihood through their winnings made from gambling. In most cases, this is their only source of income. These gamblers will sometimes even have a fixed daily schedule for their gambling activity, and even if they don’t, they do tend to gamble almost daily.
- Anti-Social Gambler: These gamblers usually have anti-social tendencies. Gambling is just one of the many ways through which they can earn some quick money unethically. These gamblers are the type which will look for opportunities to cheat at the game or rig the game itself. These gamblers will gamble on opportunity basis, meaning as and when they see an opportunity to make money easily.
Gambling addiction is known as Ludomania. It is the urge a person is unable to control knowing that the consequences are harmful. It is called compulsive gambling. If the case is severe it is identified as pathological gambling. This addiction defines the harm caused by the gambler and others surrounding him rather than the behavioral criteria.
Gambling is defined as time and money spent uncontrollably which results in harmful and negative effects on the community and the gambler himself. In an extreme situation of gambling, it is considered to be a disorder in impulse control. This may cross over to mental disorders. Some of the symptoms that a gambler may be subjected to are,
- Frequently thinking about gambling, either an experience in the past, or a future fantasy
- A feeling of wanting to experience the thrill and excitement of gambling
- Restlessness and irritability in case of trying to reduce gambling
- Trying to escape problems
- The gambler will attempt to gamble more when loosing
- Compulsively lying to family and friends
- Unable to control the desire to lessen gambling
- A gambler may go to extremes such as breaking the law. For example, theft, fraud and forgery
- Risking important relationships, jobs and significant opportunities
- In case of financial assistance a gambler will turn to friends and family for help
Some of these individual exhibit certain pathological disorders such as personality disorder, substance disorder and anxiety disorder. When a gambler is swimming in debt, he will look at sources of gaining money like theft, selling drugs since people who head up gambling operations depend on their capital to continue their gambling programs.
This addiction greatly harms personal relationships. According to a survey conducted, it was found that ten percent of gamblers who had a compulsive disorder had been married more than three times. One reason identified for compulsive gambling is abuse at home. This leads to emotional instability and improper behavior patterns such as gambling.
Many people have the inclination of taking on gambling as a form of employment, full time. For example, poker is a gambling game that has an intense popularity. The internet is a source of wealth and has poker games going on throughout the day. This makes it easier on a player and inexpensive to pursue a full time job playing poker. Some of the games a player can participate in are, 5 card stud, 5 card draw, Omaha hi and so on. A player can start playing professional poker at home with the use of the internet, since it does not require you to drive to work etc. internet based poker games provide bonuses and lotteries in order to keep you as a player in their poker rooms.
If you play online poker and if you are really good, this sounds like a really good deal. All you need to do on a daily basis, for eight hours or more; is sit at the computer. The percentage of winning at poker is 10 to 25 percent. This signifies that an estimate of three out of four players end up losing their money. It is best to ask yourself honestly, if you belong to the top 10 to 25 category. And in case you do, you still need to realise that it may take nearly as five years to learn the poker game properly and be able to carry on a long winning streak. Some of the best poker players also have bad days and lose their games. It is not a glamorous life. A poker player must prepare himself psychologically to handle bad losses which may come often at the beginning of his career.
The good news is that a poker player is granted many bonuses and the expenses he has to bear are few. Even if you are not in the top category of poker players, the internet will prove to be your source of wealth. Bonuses and lotteries offered must be taken advantage of, and in time a player will improve in his techniques and will soon be earning weekly profits from poker rooms.
Even though millions of people gamble every day, not everybody knows what has gone into making gambling the way it is today. Here are some interesting facts about gambling for you to consider:
- The Slot Machines have many names. The name ‘one-armed bandit’ is commonly known. But did you know that the slot machine is known as the ‘Fruit Machine’ in the UK?
- Did you know that a famous mathematician and philosopher invented the game of Roulette? In fact, the game of Roulette was a by-product of experiments conducted by Blaise Pascal to study perpetual motion.
- Are you tired of your job? Did you know that in 18th century England, when gambling was illegal, there was actually a position in gambling dens, where the employee’s only responsibility was to swallow the dice in the event of a police raid?
- Did you know that the first slot machine in the world was invented by Charles Fey? And that, it was called the ‘Liberty Bell’?
- Did you know that barely three decades ago, the average age of the gambler used to range between 30 years to 55 years. Now, gambling, especially online gambling has become so popular the world over that the average age of the gambler has expanded from 17 years to 70 years!
- Did you know that Texas Hold ‘Em was brought to Texas by a group of gamblers who had returned from Las Vegas. The game of Texas Hold ‘Em was played for the very first time in or around the year 1900 in a small town called Robstown.
- Did you know that the largest casino in the world is located in the United States? It is, in fact, on the outskirts of Hartford, Connecticut in the United States and it is called the Foxwoods Casino.
There are many people in the world that have been famous by their love for gambling. If you love gambling, you have a very rich and varied lead to follow. Here are some of history’s famous gamblers:
- John Montagu, the Earl of Sandwich: The Earl of Sandwich is undoubtedly extremely famous for inventing the sandwich as we know it today. But, what you may not know is that John Montagu was such an avid gambler that he was loathe to leave the gambling table even to eat food. He ate at the gambling table so as to not waste any time and on one such day, he ordered meat and bread, slapped the meat between two slices of bread, and the sandwich was born!
- ‘Wild Bill’ Hickok: ‘Wild Bill’ Hickock was an American legend known for his dangerous, and many a times violent, cowboy life. The question Hickok’s life came to a poker game. At the game, he was shot at the back of his head at point blank range by an assassin and he died immediately. He held a pair of aces and eights each and since then that particular hand has been obviously called ‘The Dead Man’s Hand.’
- Joseph Jaggers: Joseph Jaggers was an engineer who managed to discover a way to beat the roulette table. On one occasion that he went gambling, at the Casino Beaux-Arts in Monte Carlo, he won a lot of money, but he also realized that each roulette wheel had a particular balance and produced the same set of numbers on a regular basis. He used this knowledge and further research to win over $450,000. When the casino became wise to this, it fixed the table and Jagger lost over $125,000. But, considering the $450,000 he won as well as his other winnings, he did leave the casino a rich man.
Over the long, rich and varied history of gambling, some people have achieved some extraordinary feats with gambling. Here are some of them:
In the year 1950, a sailor walked into the Las Vegas Desert Inn and made history at the crap table. With the dice at craps, he won 27 straight passes. Experts have calculated the odds against such an event: 12,467,890:1. Although the sailor only won $750 since he was unwilling to bet high, but he could have won as much as $268 million if he had bid the house limits every time. The dice has since been enshrined at the casino.
Sean Connery has also beat enormous odds at gambling. In January 1963, Connery was playing Roulette at the Casino de la Vallee in Saint-Vincent, Italy. It seems his lucky number for the night was 17 as he bet on it three times in a row and won every single time. The odds of such an event occurring are 50,000:1. Connery won $27,000 that night.
Nick ‘The Greek’ Gambler is a known legend in the world of gambling. In the year 1949, he invited another gambling legend Johnny Moss to play poker in Las Vegas. The two players created history by playing poker for five straight months only stopping for sleep. The highest hand won was by the Greek when he won $500,000 in one shot. However, when he had lost over $2 million, he called an end to the game saying, “Mr Moss, I’m afraid I have to let you go.”
Henry VII King Of England did not always win at the gambling table, even though he was a very passionate gambler. Legend has it that, in the course of one game, he bet and lost a gigantic church bell. It is the first time in history for such an event to have happened.
The Riverboat Gambler is one of the classic images of the American frontier age. In the beginning of the 19th century, the Mississippi river proved to be an effective method for transporting goods from one state to another and hence became a major trading centre. At the same time as the trade centre attracts people with money, the Mississippi also became home to some of the professional gamblers.
During those times, the professional gamblers were usually ‘card sharp’ and were known as cheaters who manipulated cards in order to get their desired results. In the year 1835, there were five card sharps that were caught in the act of card manipulation and were hanged. From then onwards, the card sharps refused to spend a lot of time on the dry land and most of them resided in the boats that were used to trade goods.
Riverboat Gambling was introduced in the casinos in the year 1989. This form of gambling was incepted in United States since some of the states prohibit forms of gambling on dry land, gaming in water has been used as an alternative. A few of the Riverboat casinos, do not travel in water, instead they are just docked at a considerable distance from the land in order to avoid some legal problems. Some of the contemporary Riverboat casinos have games like roulette, blackjack and a variety of slot machines. In the present day, there are modern games such as Texas Hold’em existing in these casinos.
