Casinos are fascinating places and home to many strange and interesting facts. Check out these bizarre casino facts that you probably didn’t know.
Strange Things You Didn’t Know About Casinos
Casinos are fascinating places, no matter which way you look at it. They are where millionaires can instantly be made, where the biggest celebrities like to hang out, and where bizarre things tend to happen. Take a look at this list of bizarre but true facts about casinos that you may not already know.
The Longest Poker Game Ever
This story is so strange that it is difficult to fathom. It is also difficult to find any hard evidence on what really did happen, making it as much a mystery as anything else. It is said that a Poker game started in 1881, only to not conclude for another 8 years, 5 months and 3 days.
You’re probably thinking it was a game played in sessions, but apparently that’s not the case. Other than breaks for refreshments and sleep, the game is said to have been on a 24 hour rotating basis. Though, that the game is said to have taken place in a basement in an Arizona theatre perhaps paints a clearer picture. It must have been some sort of theatre show. At least, that’s the only explanation that makes sense. Imagine logging in for a few spins of the online slots Australia has to offer and not stopping for years.
Double Or Nothing
A UK series ran in 2004 called Double Or Nothing. It followed a gambler named Ashley Revell as he gathered money, sold everything he owned, and staked it all on a single spin of a Roulette wheel. Incredibly, the TV show was not staged, Revell was a real professional gambler, and he really did bet his entire life savings of £135,300 on red.
He won, doubling the money, and apparently missing being broke on pure luck alone. There is some controversy as to whether it really was every penny he had, but either way the spectacle had TV viewers in the UK on the edge of their seats.
The Bare Minimum
By law the average Return To Player (RTP) for slots is 70%. RTP is the average a slot must theoretically pay back to a player over time. So if $1 is put into a slot, it should, on average, give back 0.70c. The interesting part of the fact is that on average most slots these days have an average RTP of around 97%. It just goes to show that casino won’t always give back the bare minimum, depending on the game in question.
From Humble Beginnings
Assumptions are that slots have only been around a few decades. They are complicated machines, after all, requiring sophisticated technology in order to operate. But the truth is that the first slot was built as long ago as 1887. The mechanical device was incredibly intricate, based around a profoundly complicated system that consistently delivered random results.
The design was put forward by Charles Fey, who released the Liberty Bell slot commercially in 1891. His Liberty Bell slot was so popular that he struggled to keep up with demand, paving the way for an explosive boom that swept casinos across America and the world.