Here are some interesting facts and trivia about casinos and online gaming.

The face cards in a modern deck of playing cards were originally based on a parlor bingo game played in 15th century France that was similar to playing with a tarot deck. Like a soap opera story lines would be played out using these face cards, (which were based on the images of famous celebrities of the day). The actual idea of using these cards to play the card games that we know today did not really evolve until the 17th century.

In the original game of Blackjack you did not have a winning hand unless you created card value of 21 using a black jack and an ace from either the clubs suit or the spades suit.

A horizontal gaming wheel, such as the ones used in carnivals is nicknamed a “roly poly.” The American roulette wheel which has two zeros was invented to give the house an extra edge against the UK bingo players. The single zero game is known as the French or European wheel. If you are in an online or land casino your best bet is to play the wheel that only has one zero (French roulette.)

Caribbean Stud Poker is exactly the same game as five-card stud poker with the only really difference being that Five Card Stud Poker (the British version) does not always offer a progressive jackpot as a side bet in the game. American poker tables tend to have spots for the cards and wagers marked in the green felt while in Monaco and Great Britain many tables have spots that are lit up from beneath once a wager is placed. This prevents the player from changing is mind once the bet is made.

Rolling the dice is sometimes called “rolling the bones” because in Roman times dice were literally made out of sheep bones. Some historians believe that the face cards are actually based on famous historical figures. For example, the King of Hearts depicts French King Charlemagne, the King of Diamonds is based on Julius Caesar, the King of Spades represents King David from the Bible and Alexander the Great personifies the King of Clubs. The oldest known dice with regular sides were found in northern Iraq. They're made of baked clay and date to about 3,000 B.C.

The first three-reel casino gambling slot machine was the Liberty Bell, invented by Charles Fey in San Francisco in 1899. The years after all slot machines were referred to as “Liberties”. The bars, cherries, lemons and other symbols often found on slot machine windows are based on a slot machine from the 1930s that was devised by a company called Fruit Bell Gum. The machine dispensed chewing gum as a thank you for playing it. This is why “Bells” is also a common nickname for slot machines to this day. It is illegal in all of the U.S. states, except for four, for an establishment to display a gambling machine unless it, at least twenty five years old and considered to be there for interest only.