Fun and interesting facts from the world of gambling
As gambling develops, both real and online, more and more interesting and funny facts about it appear every year. Some of them are related to the history of gambling, others - to statistics. Having learned about them, you will discover the world of gambling from a different perspective.
A little history. The concept of gambling is far from new and dates back several thousand years. The first mention of gambling dates back to 2300 BC, and China is considered its homeland. Also, many researchers believe that the first card games appeared in China. The cards with suits that we are used to seeing today came to us from France. Suits and numbers have a lot in common with nature. It is no coincidence that there are four kings in the deck. Initially, each of them was associated with a real historical figure: the one of hearts is Charlemagne, the one of diamonds is Julius Caesar, the one of spades is King David, and the one of clubs is Alexander the Great.
Gambling has been banned many times throughout history. However, this did not really stop people. In order not to be caught in the game, gambling lovers came up with all sorts of tricks. So, in the 18th century, game organizers in England hired special people who swallowed bones during police raids.
At the present stage, the United States has also made its contribution to the development of gambling. It was in this country that Charles Fey invented the first slot machine in 1897 and named it Liberty Bell. The USA also gave the world such a global gambling giant as Las Vegas. Sin City has 75 casinos and 1,700 businesses with gambling licenses. Although only 5% of tourists visiting Las Vegas set gambling as their goal, 88% cannot resist and participate in gambling in one way or another. However, Las Vegas has become famous not only as a city of gambling. Many people have heard more than once about the lightning weddings that are usually held here. But few people might think that 320 ceremonies take place a day.
It turns out that more than half of the world's population plays lotteries. Today this type of gambling is one of the most popular. If you want to risk a tidy sum, it will not be so easy. A player betting more than $100,000 must notify the casino in advance and even sign a contract in some cases. Even with current bans on gambling, many find a way out of this situation. For example, a quarter of Americans admitted that they had used the services of illegal gambling establishments at least once in their lives.
Speaking about virtual gambling, several interesting facts can also be cited here. So the first online casino was opened in 1997 by the Microgaming network. Online poker appeared relatively recently, in 1998. However, now it is one of the most popular types of games. The number of people playing online games is in the millions, and the profits of virtual establishments reach billions. For example, in the UK over 3 million people play every day. Residents of Cyprus, numbering 800,000, spend €2.5 billion a year on online gambling.
