Interesting facts about casino games

A handful of genuine facts about casino games — the sort of background that helps you understand what you are playing, without the myths.

Playing cards

The four suits — hearts, diamonds, clubs and spades — became standard in France around the 1480s and spread across Europe from there. A standard deck has 52 cards because it evolved from the Mamluk 52-card pack brought to Europe via trade routes.

Roulette

The single-zero European wheel was introduced by French mathematician Blaise Pascal's contemporaries in the 18th century as a gambling device. The American double-zero version added a second green pocket, increasing the house edge.

Slot machines

The first recognisable slot machine, the Liberty Bell, was built by Charles Fey in San Francisco in 1895. It had three reels and five symbols. Modern online slots use random number generators certified by independent testing labs — the physical reels are gone, but the maths principle of random outcomes remains.

Blackjack

The game descends from a French card game called Vingt-et-Un (twenty-one), popular in the 1700s. The name “blackjack” came from an American casino promotion that paid a bonus for a hand containing the ace of spades and a black jack.

Baccarat

Baccarat arrived in France from Italy in the 1400s. The name comes from the Italian word for zero — tens and face cards count as zero in the game. James Bond played chemin de fer, a variant, in Ian Fleming's novels.

Craps

Modern craps evolved from an English dice game called Hazard, mentioned in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. The simplified American version became a casino staple in the early 20th century.