Casinos are a huge source of fascinating myths, legends, and stories that seem too good to be true. There are tales of enormous fortunes ($25 million), dubious fortunes (atomic bomb parties), and appalling personal hygiene (adult diapers to keep the game going). Some of the most fascinating facts about casinos and gambling come from societies where it's prohibited, proving that it's hard to keep people away from the temptation of potentially big wins.
Gamblers in Japan are forced to exploit a massive legal loophole to remedy the situation, while one of the world's most famous casinos in Monaco bans locals from gambling altogether. Here are some of the craziest, most interesting facts, that you probably don't know about the wild world of casinos and gambling.
1. FedEx founder saved the company thanks to a Las Vegas casino win
Here's an inspiring story for aspiring gamblers and small business owners: the founder of FedEx saved his struggling company by gambling in Vegas, winning $1,400,000 at blackjack! The company had only $5,000 in cash when Friedrich Smith decided to fly to Vegas in 1973 and risk it all. While not a great investment or business consulting strategy overall, Smith's gamble paid off, allowing the company to survive long enough to raise $11 million and eventually turn its first profit in 1976.
2. Las Vegas got rich from atomic bomb testing in the 1950s.
It sounds like a sick joke, but it's true: starting in 1951, the U.S. Department of Energy began testing more than a thousand atomic nuclei 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas. The terrifying spectacle "turned night into day," with atomic mushroom clouds visible from casinos in the thriving tourist destination. Vegas being Vegas, the city turned the horror show into a business opportunity, promoting the detonation through official Chamber of Commerce calendars, advertising atomic bomb tests, and offering special "atomic cocktails" in casino bars. There was even a "Miss Atomic Energy" beauty pageant at one of the casinos, complete with miniature mushroom cloud outfits!
3. You can voluntarily ban yourself from casinos
If your gambling problem gets out of control, several states allow you to ban yourself from casinos. This means that setting foot on a gaming floor is now considered a crime. For example, Ohio has a so-called "Voluntary Exclusion" program for gamblers who want to give up their habit, allowing them to ban themselves for one year, five years, or for life. If you choose a lifetime ban, you understand better: there's no way to remove your name from the list once you've permanently excluded yourself from casino life.
4. Card counting is perfectly legal, but it doesn't prevent you from being eliminated from the game.
«Card counting is a perfectly legitimate strategy in blackjack, involving keeping track of which cards have been dealt and which remain in the deck during play. It's actually quite simple arithmetic. However, this hasn't stopped casinos around the world from counting cards, especially if a player has been less than subtle in their approach (for example, actor Ben Affleck was banned from casinos in 2014 for his cunning). Besides players leaving or playing another game, casinos are also combating card counting by slightly changing the rules or shuffling the deck more frequently.
5. The sandwich was invented in a casino.
The legend goes like this: in 1765, John Montagu, the fourth Earl of Sandwich, was such a prolific gambler that he refused to leave the gaming table to eat. Instead, Montagu told his servants to simply bring him some meat between slices of bread so he could eat and play at the same time. Thus, the "sandwich" was born… sort of.
In reality, the Count wasn't much of a gambler, but he enjoyed his food. The legend comes from a French traveler to London and is the only source for the history of gambling. However, the story caught on, and soon people across Europe were making sandwiches the way they are today. Montagu didn't invent the food—after all, it's meat between bread; people have likely been eating this dish for centuries—but he gave it a name and a cool story to go with it (whether he liked it or not!).
6. The first slot machine wasn't even in a casino
When mechanic Charles Fey invented the first slot machine in 1895, it wasn't even in a casino, and it was far from Las Vegas. Fey's Liberty Bell machine was actually in his auto shop in San Francisco, so customers could play while they waited for their cars to be repaired. It became so popular that casinos began buying them to keep players occupied while table games were busy.
7. Citizens of Monaco cannot gamble in their casino
Monaco's infamous Monte Carlo Casino is a gambler's paradise... unless you're actually from Monaco. In that case, you're best off elsewhere: Princess Caroline banned citizens from gambling in the casino in the mid-1800s, insisting that the income came only from foreigners. The good news? Citizens don't have to pay income tax, as Monaco uses the casino's money instead.
8. Nevada State Prison offers casinos for inmates
Gambling is such a huge industry in Nevada that it even existed in the state prison for 35 years. Thus, inmates could play blackjack, craps, poker, and even bet on sports inside the "Bullpen," a stone building on the grounds of the Carson City prison from 1932 to 1967. A new California warden closed it, saying gambling was "degrading" for inmates.
9. The first casino license in Las Vegas was issued to a woman.
The pioneers of the Las Vegas casino industry weren't just male gangsters: the first legal casino license was issued to a woman named Mayme Stocker in 1920 for the Northern Club. Stocker was a respectable wife and mother, often featured in local newspapers. She opened the casino under her own name (her husband, Harold, initially didn't want to be associated with it) and offered only five games legal in Las Vegas at the time: stud poker, draw poker, lowball poker, 500, and bridge.
10. American roulette is harder to win than its European counterpart.
Roulette fans will have a slightly harder time winning in America. Originally a French game, Americans tweaked the formula to accommodate 38 instead of 37 possible landing spots for the ball (adding a "00" and a "house 0" pocket to the wheel). It was more difficult before: in 1866, a version of the game featuring the American eagle symbol added an extra way for the house to win the whole thing.
11. "Bones" came from "Crabs"«
Why is the popular North American gambling game Craps so named? It's a simple equation: language + time. Historians believe it all began with an old British dice game, the name of which translated meant "danger." In this game, the rolling "snake eyes" were called "crabs" (for some reason). French settlers in New Orleans played this game in the mid-1700s, but over time, a combination of French and English-speaking players and changes in the rules slowly transformed "crabs" into "craps," and a whole new game was born, eventually leaving Danger as nothing more than a distant memory.
12. The smallest casino in the world is located in the back of a London taxi.
The supposed "smallest casino in the world" doesn't even have an address. Grosvenor Casino in London is a mobile casino in the back of a taxi. It features a gaming table, a dealer, a bar, and a TV with a sports channel. The promotional gimmick allows the casino to travel anywhere in the city, allowing players to go directly to the casino anywhere.
13. Penny slot machines make more money for casinos than any other gambling game
Don't let the name fool you: so-called "penny machines" or "penny slots" are actually the most profitable games in the casino industry. Casino owners credit the early 2000s recession for the machines' growing popularity, allowing players to bet only pennies (though most have much larger bets). Some casinos have more slot machines than any other denomination: for example, penny slots accounted for 701,000,000 slot machines at the Atlantic Club Casino Hotel in 2013.
14. No, casinos don't pump oxygen into the gaming room.
Casinos are the subject of numerous myths, legends, and stories about the tricks and techniques used by players and casino owners to exploit the system to their advantage. One such myth is the idea that casinos pump oxygen into the gaming floor to keep players gambling and reluctant to leave.
This isn't true: besides being a crime, it's also against fire safety regulations. Where does this myth come from? Mario Puzo's novel "Fools Die" features a fictional casino called "Xanadu," which uses oxygen injections. Perhaps viewers assume this is common practice.
15. A World War II veteran won over $25 million playing slot machines.
Most people think that big money can only be won at casino table games, but there are rare exceptions where slot machines offer the opportunity to win more than at the tables. In Las Vegas, World War II veteran Elmer Sherman won a shocking $4.6 million playing a slot machine at the Mirage Casino in 1989, but he wasn't content to stop there. Elmer gambled his "lifetime dream" to win another big jackpot. His dream came true in 2005, when he won a whopping $1,400,000 playing slots!
16. The Japanese, who have banned casinos, have found a loophole.
The Japanese have come up with a way to continue gambling. While casinos are banned in the country, they've created parlors with machines that dispense silver balls. This "currency" can be exchanged for alcohol, toys, and other prizes. There's also a separate prize—tokens. These can be exchanged for cash at special stores regulated by the government. This allows players to earn money in a country that... formally prohibits gambling.
17. Slot machines saved fruit gum.
Ever wondered why slot machines use fruit pictures? It's because in the early 1880s, when gambling was banned, slot machine operators made chewing gum the winnings. Suits were also banned, so they were replaced with fruit-flavored gum. When the ban was lifted, slot machine operators never changed anything. They simply kept the fruit pictures, and the machines began paying out cash instead of gum.
18. Some gamers urinate right on the gaming area.
Some gamblers take gambling too seriously, and their obsession leads to strange behavior. Addiction specialists report that some gamblers are so addicted that they urinate themselves or wear adult diapers to avoid distractions. For example, in Indiana in 2007, a gambler filed a complaint with the state gaming commission after sitting in a chair near a slot machine that someone had previously urinated in. And in 2015, in New Jersey, a man urinated in a slot machine's coin slot.,
19. America's first interracial casino opened in 1955.
The United States in the 1950s, and Las Vegas in particular, was a horribly racist place. How was it? At one hotel, legendary black singer Sammy Davis Jr. broke the rules and swam in the pool, so management drained it. In another instance, black singer Lorna Doone was allowed to stay overnight at the hotel, but the next morning, her bed linens and towels were burned.
So when the Moulin Rouge—a casino and hotel for all races—opened on May 24, 1955, in a predominantly black part of the city, it was a historic event. Tenants were booked up a month in advance. Unfortunately, the white owners mysteriously closed after only four and a half months, but the Moulin Rouge was a surprisingly peaceful and profitable establishment.
20. Las Vegas is not the gambling capital of the world.
Macau is the only city in China where gambling is legal. It is also the world's largest gambling city. Macau's casino revenue in 2012 exceeded Vegas's fivefold. Unlike Vegas, which generates most of its revenue from slot machines, the majority of the money earned in Macau (75 percent!) comes from high stakes at VIP gaming tables.
21. The numbers on the roulette wheel add up to the "number of the beast"«
Gambling and superstition go hand in hand, so it's no surprise that certain mystical properties have been attributed to some popular games of chance. The biblical "number of the beast" is found in roulette: if you add up all the numbers on the wheel, you get 666! That's why it's called the "Devil's wheel.".
22. Dealers must show their hands to the cameras before leaving the table.
If you've ever witnessed a strange ritual in a casino, don't be surprised. Everyone is closely monitored 24/7 by video cameras embedded in the ceiling. It's called "clean hands": hands are shown on camera to ensure there's no attempt to hide or steal chips or cards. Casino owners have also established this rule for certain actions, requiring you to show the "clean hands" gesture beforehand. Here's how to perform this ritual:
- Touching the guest's bets;
- Before handing over anything to a guest or casino staff;
- Accidentally touching someone's hand;
- When approaching or leaving the table;
- Before and after the exchange operation;
- Picking something up from the floor;
- In situations that pose a safety risk, never hand over or accept anything directly from guests or casino staff. All transactions must be conducted through the gaming table;
- Adjusting your hair or something in your clothes;
Casinos are a separate empire, with their own rules and laws, although in many countries they themselves are already illegal. But even there, loopholes and solutions have been found, as humans are inherently passionate and crave the game. The key is to remain human and not devote yourself entirely to the process.