Soldiers in ancient Greece invented a game using a shield, which was spun on the top of a spear. They marked sections on the shield and placed bets on where the shield would stop. The Romans played similar games, using spinning chariot wheels. These evolved into the popular fairground wheel of fortune, the forerunner of today’s casino game of big wheel six. Read the rest of this entry »
Situated in the Horseshoe Hotel on Fremont Street in downtown Vegas, Binion’s gives a taste of how gambling used to be in the Old West. Opened in 1951 by Benny Binion, a former Texas bootlegger and gambler, the casino evokes the atmosphere of a traditional gambling hall — no shows, no music, just gambling. Minimum stakes are $2 on blackjack and $1 on craps. The poker tables are not for beginners though, as many professional players make their living here. Read the rest of this entry »
Another Englishman who had success on the roulette tables at Monte Carlo was Joseph Hobson Jaggers, a worker at a textile mill in Bradford. With his experience of the textile industry, he knew that wooden spindles were subject to wear and tear. On a visit to Monte Carlo in 1873, Jaggers was interested in the mechanics of roulette wheels. He realised that if the spindles of the roulette wheels were worn, the wheels would not be perfectly balanced. This would mean that some numbers would come up more often than others. He theorized that if he could find such a wheel, he could develop a system for winning. Read the rest of this entry »
Roulette is one of the most popular casino games in the world due mainly to the large odds that it pays. A winning number on roulette pays 35 to 1, which means that a small stake can potentially turn into a fortune if a player has a winning streak. By reinvesting winnings, a player with a $1 initial stake could accumulate $46,000 in just three spins of the wheel. Read the rest of this entry »
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