The History Of Bingo

The History Of Bingo

In Italy during the 1530s a lottery was invented that is still played in Italy every Saturday. This is where the game of Bingo originated. The game travelled to France in the 1770s and was initially played amongst wealthy Frenchmen. The game then travelled deeper into Europe reaching Germany, where they chose to use it as a tool to help their children learn history, spelling and math. 

Finally, the game reached Atlanta, Georgia in 1929 where it became known as 'beano'. It was played at fairs and carnivals around the country. Each player had some dried beans and a card containing numbered squares - this was divided into three rows and nine columns. There was a caller who drew random discs numbered from 1 to 90 from a cigar box or a bag. The designated number drawn out was then shouted to waiting players. The players used their beans to cover up the matching number on the card. The winner would be the first person to cover up an entire row of numbers. When this happened the player yelled 'beano' to alert everyone that they had won. 

A New York toy salesman, Edwin S. Lowe, was visiting a country fair one day when he witnessed a woman shout 'Bingo!' In her eagerness to tell everyone that she had covered all her numbers, she became tongue-tied and shouted 'Bingo' instead of 'beano'. This error ultimately inspired Lowe and he rushed back to New York to develop and market a new game - Bingo! 

Lowe's first commercial version of the game retailed at $1 for a 12 card set and $2 for 24 cards. A priest from Pennsylvania realized that he could raise some much needed funds for his church by running Bingo games, but he soon discovered a problem. There were often too many winners! When he brought this to Lowe's attention Lowe hired a math professor, Carl Leffer, to help him increase the amount of Bingo combinations. By 1930 they had invented over 6,000 Bingo cards - reputedly at the cost of Leffer's sanity. 

Word soon spread that Bingo was an easy and enjoyable way to raise money. By 1934 it was estimated that over 10,000 games a week were being played. Having been unable to patent his invention, Lowe generously allowed his competitors to pay him a dollar a year and for that he happily let them call their games 'Bingo' too.

The Origin Of Blackjack

The Origin Of Blackjack

The game of Blackjack was introduced to the United States in the 19th century but the origin of the game is still much in dispute. Blackjack can be traced back to several European card games including the French ‘Vingt-Un’ (21), ‘Trente et Quarente’, and ‘Chemin de Fer’ (Railroad), as well as the Spanish ‘One and Thirty’, Italian ‘Baccara’ and ‘Seven and a half’ which all have similarities to modern Blackjack.

When gambling was legalized in Nevada in 1934, Blackjack screamed into popularity and was most commonly played with one or two decks of cards. Roger Baldwin published a paper in 1956 which explained hot to reduce the house advantage based on probability and statistics which was quite confusing for those who were not mathematicians.

In 1962, Dr. Edward O. Thorp used an IBM 704 computer to refine the mathematical strategy in Baldwin’s paper and also developed the first card counting techniques. Dr. Thorp wrote a book called “Beat the Dealer” which outlined card counting techniques and the strategies for reducing the house advantage.

This spawned a huge increase in Blackjack players at the US casinos who were trying to implement Dr. Thorp’s strategies, much to the consternation of the casinos. The system was difficult to understand and hard to implement and thusly increased the profits for the casinos as more and more people took to playing Blackjack.

Blackjack is the most popular table card game in the United States today which was transformed from the one table game that used to be stuck in the corner of most casinos. The term Blackjack comes from the ‘natural hand winner’ of the earlier versions of the game when a player was dealt the Jack and Ace of Spades in his initial two card hand. The player was declared an automatic winner and was paid a bonus. In today’s version of Blackjack, any ace combined with any ten point value card-10, jack, queen and king, counts as a natural Blackjack, except after a split.

Blackjack is a widely popular game around the world and has only seen an increase in players as the years progress. What once was a game that was not popular and seemingly too difficult to play with ‘strategies’ and ‘counting cards’ it is now the most popular card game to play at a casino in most of the world.

The History Of Seven Card Stud Poker

The History Of Seven Card Stud Poker

As it is with most popular card games, the origins of Poker and the history of 7 Card Stud Poker are shrouded in mystery. No one is entirely sure how or where the game began. Further, when considering the history of 7 Card Stud Poker, you should first know how Poker is thought to have come about.

There are many theories about the history of Poker and the history of 7 Card Stud Poker. The most commonly held belief is the name Poker came from the French card game Poque (from the German word pochen, which means “to knock). However, the game itself more closely resembles a Persian game called Nas, which was played with a five-suit deck. Likely the game of Poker as we know it resulted from some combination of Poque and as Nas. The concept of bluffing in Poker came from still another source: the English game brag (first spelled Bragg), which is very similar to Poker but played using only three cards.

The first recorded instance of Poker in the United States was an 1829 game in New Orleans, played with a 20-card deck consisting of all cards with values of 10 and higher (four tens, four jacks, four queens, four kings and four aces). The game was not named, but the object was to bet on whose five-card hand contained the highest cards. This game soon spread to Mississippi riverboats, where con artists used a 52-card variant to bilk unwary travelers and claim their “pokes,” or gambling money stashes. Author Jonathan H. Green described this “cheating card game” in one of his books, and some give Green credit for coining the final term of “Poker.”

Stud Poker emerged during the American Civil War. Some attribute the invention of stud, or stud-horse as it was sometimes called, to cowboys around Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. 5 Card Stud was the first version played, appearing in The American Hoyle as an “official” Poker variant in 1864. Still, draw Poker was the favored variation until someone--no one is certain exactly whom--introduced 7 Card Stud in the early 20th century. The game remained the most popular form of professional and casino Poker until the 1980’s, when a slight twist on 7 Card Stud called Texas Hold ‘Em overtook the traditional version to become the favorite among gamblers and casual players alike.

The majority of Poker tournaments are based on core games of 7 Card Stud or variations of it. Binions Casino, the founder of the largest professional Poker tournament in existence--the World Series of Poker--began a Poker Hall of Fame to commemorate the greatest Poker players in history. Among them are “Wild Bill” Hicock, who was shot and killed during a Poker game holding a two-pair hand of aces over eights (which is still known as a “dead man’s hand” among gamblers); and “Red” Hodges, considered the greatest 7 Card Stud Poker player to have ever lived. 7 Card Stud is still an immensely popular game in Vegas, home games and Internet casinos.

The History Of Five Card Stud Poker

The History Of Five Card Stud Poker

Poker has a long and indistinct history. Some hold that it originated in Persia as it closely resembles a game called As Nas and may have been brought to the United States via Persian sailors in New Orleans. This game was played with 25 cards with 5 different suits. This game was played similarly to modern Five Card Stud with many of the hand combinations such as three of a kind. It seems likely that the name “Poker” descended from the French poque, which originally came from the German pochen, ‘to knock’.

The game was reportedly played in New Orleans around the late 1820’s, with a deck of 20 cards and players betting on the value of their hands. The earliest known form of Poker was played with a 20-card pack (A-K-Q-J-10) evenly dealt amongst four players. There was no draw, and bets are made on a narrow range of combinations: one pair, two pair, triplets, and ‘full’ - so called because it is the only combination in which all five cards are active - and four of a kind. Unlike classic Poker, in which the top hand (royal flush) can be tied in another suit, the original top hand consisting of four Aces, or four Kings and an Ace, was absolutely unbeatable. The spread of the game after this seems to have been facilitated by the practice of gambling on Mississippi riverboats.

Soon after this the deck was expanded to the present day 52 cards and the flush was introduced. The additional cards were introduced mostly to allow more players. The game was expanded and developed further during the Civil War, with many of the variants of the game being introduced then, including Five Card Stud. Poker was initially played with only one round of betting with all five cards dealt face down and no draw cards, very similar to today’s Five Card Stud game.

Professional gamblers later added variations and rule changes in order to increase the profitability of the game. Wild cards and bluffing became common occurrences and the draw was added around 1850, allowing yet another round of betting. Many of the features of modern Poker, such as the draw and some versions of different hands, as well as the straight and the flush originated in the earlier forms of the British game Brag or Bragg. Brag’s modern form differs greatly from modern day poker, however.

The History Of Chuck-A-Luck

The History Of Chuck-A-Luck

Chuck A Luck is a gambling game that employs three dice and a wire cage or cone-shaped chute. The dice used are standard six-sided cubes numbered from 1 to 6 at each side. The chute, which can be made of either leather or metal, is usually called a ‘horn’. 

The use of metal chutes in the game of Chuck A Luck is associated with the so-called tinhorn gamblers, who were actually gamblers with little money, thus the choice of metal over the higher-priced leather. An early version of the game was played by the dice being thrown or “chucked” - hence the name. A heavy welded metal birdcage device eventually became the standard use where only the dealers are allowed to turn the cage. 

The Chuck A Luck cage has been loosely interchanged by many with any birdcage tumbler. This is only true on the basis of the game’s definition as long as there are three dice in the cage. Cages are also used for other games such as High/Low (Under and Over) but with a different number of dice. 

Origins of Gambling and Gaming in the US 

Long before casinos came to be, card, dice and gaming table possession were outlawed in some places. As time passed, laws were relaxed to allow casual gaming or games for purely recreational purposes and not for trade. However, general hostility toward professional gamblers took a long time to go away and sometimes resulted in lynching. 

There were places, however, that accepted gambling as a harmless form of recreational activity. Legal gambling took the form of card, dice and animal racing games that were perceived to be proper gentlemen’s diversion. The wide appeal of gambling is attributed to its association with the frontier spirit, which relies on high expectations, risk-taking and opportunism. 

Lotteries were widespread and used mainly to raise revenues. Some of the earliest and most prestigious universities such as Harvard and Yale were established using proceeds coming from lotteries. Dice and card games in taverns and roadhouses slowly initiated casino gaming. Casinos were established as the population increased. 

During the highest point of California gambling, Faro was the most popular game played in saloons; followed by several dice games such as high/low, chuck a luck and grand hazard. The spread of settlers beyond California expedited the spread of gambling as well. Since then, laws have been enacted across the country in a bid to bestow respectability and recognition of legal gambling. 

Origins of Chuck A Luck 

Chuck A Luck is an old game that originated in English pubs. It was then known as “Sweat Cloth” and was introduced in the US sometime around 1800 as “Sweat”. It also became known by several other names such as “Chucker Luck”, “Chuck-Luck” and “Chuck” during the mid-to-late 1800’s. It was only after 1900 that it was called “Birdcage” and eventually “Chuck A Luck”. 

“Sweat” was played using a cup and three dice, which were thrown. Due to allegations of cheating by operators in the use of weighted or trick-shaped dice and the practice of trick dice throwing, the cup was replaced by a birdcage-like device which was flipped several times by the dealer and displayed the results when the cage stopped and the dice dropped. 

Chuck A Luck took a more advanced form through “Grand Hazard”, another type of dice game. The main difference lies in the layout. At present, the game can be found only in a handful of casinos worldwide, overshadowed by more recent versions of the simple dice game. Casino dice games have indeed come a long way, considering that tossing up dice holds traces of the ancient cult, being associated with the rituals of fortune telling.