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Online Gambling History Overview

Games of chance history

Gambling has been around since probably as long back as man has been around. Games of chance were not a recent invention but rather something which had been present since centuries. It is said that the Mayan priests too had wagered at their ceremonies on ball games of different types. According to the legends, the Roman legionnaires' had thrown dice for Christ's clothes.

In the earliest centuries the games of chance had been taken quite seriously since the outcome of these games had often been very lethal. Often the players who lost at the games had their heads cut off.

The horse races

Probably as soon as the horses had been introduced in America, the locals, especially the Indians began to wager their money and their valuables on the outcomes of horse races. Horse races had been an absolute craze at the time. In the west it was considered to be the only form of entertainment available to the locals and they would often bet all of their possessions on these races.

During the day of the miners, all types of animal sports and races had been very popular as gambling. The miners used to wager on frog jumping contests, pony races and dog fights. During the gold rush the prospectors had only one way of entertaining themselves, gambling. In California, the prospectors used to try all types of innovative methods of gambling and betting on animals had been one of their favorites of all times.

Faro

In the west, the Faro had been considered to be one of the most entertaining and prestigious games since it gave enough excitement even to the onlookers. The players in Faro had almost an even chance. It was often known to be straight or square since manipulation at the game was easy to catch. The name Faro itself came from Pharaoh, the image which used to be present at the back of the cards then. It is believed that the game had been first invented in the 18th century in France.

Spanish Monte

Spanish Monte had been a very close rival of Faro. Both of these games had been widely popular at the time. The game had come to California from Spain through Mexico and used to be played with forty cards and very closely resembled to the modern day "21" since in Spanish Monte too the players used to play against the dealer.

Keno

Keno too had been very popular with the miners. Keno is quite similar to bingo where the numbers used to be picked from a bird cage and the players used to bet on the numbers. When a player's number came up he would triumphantly shout "Keno". The prize normally for the winner in those days had been a golden goose egg.

Chuck-o-luck

This game too had been quite popular in the west. The game had been of English origin and had been introduced in America during the 1800s. Three dice used to be tumbled inside a contraption known as a chuck cage and the players had to bet on a number which would or would not show up on one of the dices.