There are exciting gambling facts that have made the industry rife underbrush for rumors and created kindling for interest in the casino gambling world. Ever since the casino industry became big online, like in any online industry all the facts that war ones true are now mixed with a lot of disinformation. Therefore, Some of the fascinating facts that pervade the gambling industry are nothing but fiction, while others have rings of truth for which we have explored here.
- The Monaco conundrum
One of the most bizarre twists to regulation surrounding the gambling industry is to be found in Monaco, where locals are prohibited from playing in Monte Carlo casinos. A 19th century Monaco princess set this mandate in the principality, forbidding citizens from spending their money in casinos and insisting that profits gained should only come from foreigners. The vibrant Monte Carlo casinos are so lucrative that citizens of the small country don’t pay income taxes, which is derived from the casino revenues.
- Roulette numbers amount to 666
With some games played in the casino having superstitious undertones, it’s no wonder that someone counted the numbers on a roulette table and found that they amount to 666. This number of the beast is the main reason that the roulette wheel is also known as the devil’s wheel.
- Voluntary bans are accepted and enforced
Gamblers who feel that their addiction has gone out of control can ban themselves from accessing both landbased and online casino games. Once established, your personal ban becomes the law, and any forays into a casino will be treated as a criminal offense. Some voluntary banning or exclusion programs can last for one to five years or for life.
- The casino gave us the sandwich
The earl of sandwich, john Montagu was an avid gambler, and once during dinner time, he couldn’t leave the card table. He, therefore, ordered his servant to get him some meat slices inside two bread buns, and the sandwich was born.
- No dice no conviction
During the prohibition era in the early 20th century US, gambling was illegal, and games would be conducted in underground speakeasy joints. The games were haunted by a police presence that raided the underground poker and craps games incessantly to root out the gambling rings. During a police raid, the players would swallow the craps dice to hide evidence since being caught meant jail time.
- Vegas is not the worlds gambling capital
If the sheer size and prominence of Las Vegas gives an illusion that it’s the gambling capital of the world, it’s not and either is it the largest or the most profitable. The title goes to Macau, which is a Chinese territory offering legal gambling to punters from the world over. True to Chinese legacy as the earliest known gamblers, Macau gets top dollar from high stakes games where high rollers wager thousands in single blackjack hands.
- Feminine beginnings to Vegas gambling
You may have heard stories about how mafia gangsters set up the first Las Vegas casinos, but what is not public knowledge is that a woman received the first gambling license in sin city. Mamie stoker was a respectable mother and wife of Harold stoker who set up the northern club in 1920, and her husband wanted no part in the dubious nature of the business. Mamie’s Northern Club offered five games, including draw poker, 500, bridge, lowball poker, and stud poker.
- FedEx was saved by blackjack
During the early 1970s, FedEx was a small company that was struggling to keep bankruptcy at bay, and the founder decided to test fate by putting the company’s future in a game of cards. Frederic Smith flew to Las Vegas with the company’s 5,000 dollars and staked the entire amount in a set of blackjack. Incidentally, he won over $27,000 and returned to save the company and drive FedEx to accrue over 11 million dollars in profits after just three years.
- The pinball ban
During the prohibition, pinball machines were seen as gambling by New York authorities who banned it much to the designer’s chagrin. It wasn’t until 1976 that roger Sharpe had had enough and went to court to prove that pinball was a game of skill as opposed to chance, and he opted to demonstrate this. A New York court allowed Sharpe to bring a pinball machine, and he played a game while calling out all the moves he was shooting.
He accomplished this with incredible accuracy, proving that pinball was more of an arcade rather than a casino game.