Gambling online offers players numerous opportunities, from classic casino games like poker and roulette to newer innovations like video poker and esports betting that allow them to use their skills and strategies, increasing the odds of victory.
Few casino games can match roulette for its iconic status; its roots date back to 18th-century France and are still enjoyed today by millions worldwide. From its iconic spinning wheel and constant anticipation over where its ball will land to its timeless appeal over centuries.
Slot machines
Slot machines are an immensely popular casino game, offering players a chance at life-changing sums for relatively modest stakes. Unlike other casino games, slots don’t require any special skill or knowledge – anyone with access to an internet connection can enjoy playing.
Original slots were tall mechanical machines with spinning reels containing multiple symbols that would land randomly when players pressed a spin button. Early machines often featured fruit-flavored chewing gum as prizes – thus leading to iconic cherry and melon symbols being present.
Online slot games today feature a wide variety of themes and features, such as stacked symbols that increase your chances of hitting a winning combination.
Blackjack
Blackjack is one of the world’s best-known casino card games, yet its exact roots remain obscure. Most experts agree that its first recorded appearance occurred in European casinos during the 1700s as Vingt-et-un (Twenty One). Miguel Cervantes even mentions it in Don Quixote; although at that point in time, no reference could be made directly to it as such.
Nowadays, blackjack has become a common staple at online casinos and can be found in multiple variations, including Double Exposure. While many gambling sites provide this table game, some stand out more as suitable than others for this particular form of play; those that specialize in providing it have been specifically chosen to provide players with the optimal gambling experience.
Roulette
Roulette’s origins have long been debated. One theory suggests it was created in 1655 by French physicist and mathematician Blaise Pascal as an attempt to develop an indefinite motion machine.
Roulette players place bets on either an individual pocket, small group of pockets based on their position in the layout or on color of an entire grouping of pockets; winning bets are paid out according to odds for each type of bet placed.
Over the years, numerous betting systems have been developed which claim to help overcome the house edge in roulette by employing specific patterns of bets. Some of these have even been advertised in UK press.
Craps
Craps is a dice game in which players bet on the outcome of a roll of two dice, using little equipment in an informal setting. Craps has become highly social over the years with players employing slang terms and other ways of communicating between rounds.
Shooters in online craps refer to any player who throws or presses the “roll” button as “shooters”, and when betting rounds begin with Come-Out rolls the shooters hope for either sevens or elevens to emerge on their Come-Out rolls – should they succeed they are considered naturals and their bet wins!
Most casinos provide a range of wagers with distinct house edges.
Pai Gow Poker
Pai Gow Poker was invented by Sam Torosian during the 1980s as an innovative way of drawing people in to his Bell Card Club. Inspired by Chinese dominoes and poker rules, Torosian combined them both together into this table game.
Traditional Pai Gow Poker requires each player to receive seven cards from a dealer, who then gives each of them two low hands and five high hands that rank higher than two similar sets made by the banker (aka “bank”).
Torosian never saw any revenue from his invention due to bad advice from a lawyer and not seeking patent protection for it; but thanks to online casinos, players can now play Pai Gow Poker for real money!
Backgammon
Backgammon has an expansive history spanning millennia. Relics of ancient backgammon can be found all around the world, such as China, Egypt, and Greece. Royal courts renowned for playing this “King of Games.” Edmond Hoyle published a book detailing backgammon rules and strategies in 1745; more modern inventions include doubling cubes that came about in 1920s as one of its key innovations.
Gambling quickly spread throughout Europe and was even mentioned in works such as Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales and William Shakespeare’s Love’s Labor’s Lost. Unfortunately, however, gambling was considered dishonest by church authorities at this time and this game eventually suffered as a result.