Are you a sucker for interesting facts? Would you like to impress your friends with a little nugget of information? Well read on, as here are a few things you didn’t know about gambling…..
- Roulette is also known as the Devil’s game. This is because if you add up the numbers from 1 to 36, the total is 666 – the number of Satan!
- European varieties of the Roulette wheel have a single zero space whereas Vegas casinos have an additional 00 space. The game originally had the 00 space but German game designers eliminated the 00 to slightly increase players’ odds which was then adopted elsewhere – apart from Vegas.
- England wasn’t always in favour of casinos and gambling. Back in the 18th century, English casinos used drastic measures to avoid being discovered by the police – they actually employed people to swallow the dice in the event of a visit by the ‘boys in blue’!
- If you Google the layout of any major casino, you will see that it looks a bit like a maze. This is designed intentionally to get you lost and keep on gambling. The lighting is also designed to resemble your front room so you feel comfortable. There are no clocks or windows so gamblers have no idea of the time and keep on gambling through the night.
- Believe it or not, card counting in Blackjack is not illegal in live casinos – there is no law governing this. However, if you’re spotted in a casino and thought to be doing it, you will get thrown out as it’s considered to be a form of cheating.
- Playing cards are thought to originate in the Middle East and the four suits started out as coins, cups, swords and sticks. Coins evolved into diamonds, ‘cups representing love changed to hearts, swords to spades and sticks to clubs.
- The four kings in a standard deck of cards were designed by the French to represent famous kings or leaders. The King of Diamonds represented Julius Caesar; King of Hearts – Charles the Great; King of Clubs – Alexander the Great and the King of Spades – King David from the Bible.
- Specially constructed packs of playing cards were manufactured during World War II in the US in collaboration with the Government, and sent to American soldiers held in German camps. When the cards got wet, they peeled apart and revealed parts of a map which helped the prisoners escape.
- The reason why the Ace of Spades looks different is because ‘back in the day’ it was the only card in the pack to be taxed. There is more open space on the card allowing room for it to be stamped showing that tax had been paid. You’ve heard the phrase ‘not the full deck’ – this was because players bought a deck of only 51 cards, with the Ace of Spades missing – to avoid paying the tax!
- Chinese gamblers believe that red is a lucky colour and will visit the casino wearing something or other which is red – underwear included.
So put your red knickers/pants on and join me on a great night with Funky Casinos where you can play for fun. If you are thinking about your Christmas ‘do’ or have any type of event coming up, then please do contact us.
Cathy Prested
Funky Casinos