Casino Games From Ancient Times That We Play Today
Although the casinos we know today have only been around since the 1600s, gambling has always been popular and dates back to the Palaeolithic period. The six-sided dice uncovered in Mesopotamia date back to roughly 3000 BCE, but these were based on astragali that were even older than that.
Interestingly, many of the games our ancient forefathers played are still being enjoyed today at ultra-modern online casinos!
Dice-Based Games
There is a range of games involving dice that many a modern player will be more than familiar with, including Craps and Sic Bo. There are claims that they were invented in Ancient Greece, circa 400 BC but evidence has been unearthed dating them as far back as 6000 BC.
Roulette
The version of The Devil’s Game that is so widely played these days was invented by a physicist in the 17th century. Blaise Pascal’s attempt at creating a perpetual motion machine gave us the foundation for the game which then transformed into Roly Poly, an English game that got banned by 1739.
As the 18th century drew to a close, a version of Roulette that any modern player would recognise began appearing across France, making this game at least 300 years old.
Blackjack
The first-ever reference to an early form of 21 can be found in a short story by the iconic Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes. This was in the 1600s, telling us that people would already have been familiar with the concept then. Vingt-Un, as it was known then, appeared in America in the 1800s and it was here that it got its name.
To publicise a then-new gambling game, operators added a bonus payment for players creating a hand worth 21 points containing a black jack. The extra payout didn’t make the cut, but the name stuck.
Keno
The origins of the online Keno real money games we play today are fascinating. It’s said that it was dreamed up as a way to fund the construction of The Great Wall of China, in the 1300s. If that’s the case, it certainly worked!
While there’s no hard-and-fast proof that this is how it came to be, we do know that Keno arrived in the West with Chinese immigrants in the 19th century so it certainly could be true.
What Lies Ahead?
Many more casino games have been invented more recently, including slots in the 19th century and video poker in the 20th. The way we access them has totally changed as well, with smartphones, tablets, and desktops being the preferred method to play games once only accessible at land-based gambling venues.
With the advent of Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality, the future of online casino games certainly looks bright. There are scenarios possible nowadays that not even the most forward-thinking gambler of yesteryear could have imagined and it’s tough to predict what the future will be.
What cannot be denied, however, is the fact that it’s going to be fun! The only games that have managed to last are those that offer us the entertainment we crave and to get a foot in the door now will require innovative, out-the-box thinking by game creators.
