Casino in a taxi (and other strange casino facts)

by Alex J. Coyne © 2017 Gifts for Card Players

Did you know that the world’s largest slot machine tournament ever took place at Muckleshoot Casino in Washington, USA – with 3, 173 players hitting the machines simultaneously? Keep reading for more interesting, historical and just plain weird facts about casinos, or try your luck at some of the places listed at Casinos.Co

• The word casino is derived from the Italian word ‘casa’, and literally means ‘little house’.
• The first slot machine ever built was the Liberty Bell, put together by Charles Fey in 1895. You can check out the original machine if you ever drive through Reno, Nevada at the Liberty Belle saloon. The machine’s largest payout? Three bells, or fifty cents. Read our article on the colourful history of slot machines click here >>
• The World Count of Gaming Machines (2015) (click here to view PDF) estimates that there are 5,597,819 gaming machines in Japan, making it the country with the highest number in the world. Surprisingly, gambling is illegal in Japan.
• While on the topic of Japan, pachinko machines are the most popular ones there: Players don’t win money, but prizes or tokens. (Though, usually just a little away from the casino, there are places where these tokens or prizes can be exchanged for cash…)
• The first casino in Vegas to lose a gambling license was The Red Rooster – but not for what you think. Way back in 1931, the place was raided by agents, unfortunately for alcohol, and during prohibition.
• The smallest casino in the world is in the UK, but you can only get to it by hailing a taxi, because… Well, it is the taxi. Grosvenor Casino, the company behind the idea, encourages visitors to tweet their experiences – after getting it to stop, of course.
• Craps and Blackjack are said to give the best odds to the player, though most players in Las Vegas are reported to play slots.
• Believe in luck? The official website of Caesar’s Palace recommends that you visit (and rub) one of four “lucky spots”: The boxing glove on the statue of Joe Louis, The Statue of David’s big toe, Caesar’s finger – or, if you’re feeling really lucky – Cleopatra’s breasts.
• Rivers’ Casino in Illinois is built in a very shallow pit filled with no more than a couple inches of water – basically, it’s a casino standing in a puddle. This is to comply with IL law, which requires casino’s to be built over water – for riverboat gambling.
• The world’s gambling capital in three guesses. Vegas? Nope. Not that one, either. And nope. It’s Macau, China – the only city in China where it’s legal to do so.
• Monaco citizens don’t pay tax, because all revenue the country needs is generated straight from the casinos. The catch? Only foreigners are legally allowed to gamble!
• InterCasino, originally based in Antigua, became one of the first online casino’s to deal with real-life money when it was registered in 1996.
• Ben Affleck has a lifelong ban from playing Blackjack – and likely anything else – at the Hard Rock in Las Vegas. Why? He got caught counting cards at the table back in May 2014.