12 Interesting Facts About Casinos & Gambling

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Real money casino is a huge source of interesting myths, legends, and stories that almost seem too good to be true. In this article we write about some of the craziest, most interesting facts you probably don't know about the wild world of casinos and gambling.

1. The First Casino in World and Casanova

The first casino was built by Casanova in 1638 in Venice, Italy. It was established as a house for summer activities, A "Summer House" as a place for pleasure. Later on it became a “Casino” and was used to host games.

2. Hurry Up! Swallow the dice?!

During the 18th century, English casinos hired people to swallow the dice in case of a police raid.

3. Richard Nixon 37th U.S. president of USA

Richard Nixon funded his congressional election campaign with money he won playing cards in the South Pacific during World War II.

4. Vegas Casinos Capitalized on Atomic Bomb Testing in the 1950s

It's fact: starting in 1951, the U.S. Department of Energy began detonating more than one thousand test nukes just 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas, a scary spectacle that "turned night into day" and left mushroom clouds visible from casinos in the burgeoning tourist hotspot. Vegas being Vegas, the city turned the horror show into a business opportunity, promoting the detonation times via official Chamber of Commerce calendars touting Atomic Bomb Parties and offering special "atomic cocktails" at casino bars. There was even a "Miss Atomic Energy" beauty pageant at one casino, complete with little mushroom cloud outfits!

5. The First Slot Machine in World Was in an Auto Shop

When mechanic Charles Fey invented the first slot machine in 1895, it wasn't even played in a casino, and it was far from Las Vegas. Fey's "Liberty Bell" machine was actually at his auto shop in San Francisco for customers to play while they waited for their cars to be fixed. It became so popular that casinos started buying them to give gamblers something to do when the casino table games were fully occupied.

6. The Sandwich Was Invented in a Real Casino

The legend goes something like this: in 1765, John Montagu, the fourth Earl of Sandwich, was such a huge gambler that he didn't want to leave the gaming table to eat. Instead, Montagu told his servants to just bring him some meat between sliced bread so he could eat and play at the same time. Thus the "sandwich" was born... sort of.

In reality, the Earl wasn't much of a gambler, but he did enjoy his namesake meal. The legend came from a French travel guide about London and is the only source of the gambling tale. The story caught on, however, and soon people throughout Europe were craving sandwiches. Montagu didn't invent the meal - it's meat between bread, after all; people had likely been eating this combo for centuries - but he did give it a name and a cool story to go with it.

7. Persistent Myth that Casinos Pump Oxygen onto the Casino Gaming Floor

It isn't true: besides being a felony, it's also a fire hazard. Where does the myth come from? The Godfather author Mario Puzo's novel Fools Die featured a fictional casino, Xanadu, that pumped in oxygen, perhaps leading readers to think it was a common practice.

8. The Nevada State Prison Used to Have a Casino for Inmates

Gambling is such a huge industry in Nevada that even the state prison had a casino inside it for 35 years. That's right: inmates could play blackjack, craps, poker, and even bet on sports inside the "Bullpen," a stone building on the prison's grounds in Carson City from 1932 to 1967. A new warden from California shut it down, saying gambling was a "degradation" to the inmates.

9. The World's Smallest Casino Is in the Back of a London Cab

World's smallest casino does hav't even have an address. The Grosvenor Casino in London has a mobile casino in the back of a cab, complete with a gaming table, dealer, bar, and a TV showing sports. The promotional stunt lets riders go anywhere in the city as long as they make a charitable donation... or they can go straight to the casino, free of charge.

10. The Founder of FedEx Saved the Company by Gambling in Vegas

Here's an inspiring story for aspiring gamblers and small business owners: the founder of FedEx saved his floundering company by gambling in Vegas, earning $27,000 in blackjack! The company only had $5,000 in its coffers when Frederick Smith decided to fly to Vegas in 1973 and risk it all.

Though this is risk investment, in general, Smith's gamble paid off, allowing the company to last long enough to raise $11 million and eventually earn its first profits in 1976.

11. Las Vegas Is Not the Gambling Capital of the World

The city of Macau is the only Chinese territory where it is legal to gamble in a casino... and it also happens to be the world's largest gambling city. Forget Vegas: Macau's casino revenues beat Vegas's five times over in 2012. Unlike Vegas, which makes most of its money in penny slots, most of the money generated in Macau (75 percent!) comes from high rollers making huge bets at table games in V.I.P. rooms.

12. Roulette… Or is it “The Devil’s Game" in Real Money Casino?

Gambling and superstition go hand-in-hand, so it's not surprising that some mystical properties have been assigned to some popular casino games. The biblical "Number of the Beast" makes an appearance in every casino with a roulette wheel: if you add up all the numbers on the wheel, you get 666! The coincidence, coupled with gambling's knack for ruining lives, has earned the roulette wheel the nickname "The Devil's Wheel."