Celebrate National Trivia Day: Casino Fun Facts

January 4th, 2010 is National Trivia Day. I sought out some interesting trivia facts related to casino gaming tables and Las Vegas. Fun Stuff!

• Worldwide there are about 4800 casinos, with about 1790 in North America, 1670 in the United States and 26 in Michigan.
• The word "Casino" originally meant a small villa, summerhouse or pavilion built for pleasure, usually on the grounds of a larger Italian villa or palazzo. During the 19th century, the word "Casino" came to include other public buildings where pleasurable activities, including gambling and sports, took place.
• "Playing with House Money" refers to the situation where a winning player is placing bets with money that has been won from the casino.
• When it opened in 1989, The Mirage, in Las Vegas, was the first casino to use security cameras full time on all table games to catch cheaters.
• Dice have been made from wood, clay, stone, peach pits, animal horns, teeth, ivory, bronze, porcelain, even jewels. The oldest known dice with regular sides were found in northern Iraq. They're made of baked clay and date to about 3,000 B.C.
• The kings in decks of playing cards represent real leaders and conquerors from history, although not all had the title of king. The deck we use today is based on cards designed in 15th-century France. The king of spades represents the Biblical King David, the king of clubs represents Alexander the Great, the king of hearts represents Charlemagne and the king of diamonds represents Julius Caesar.
• Horizontal gaming wheels, such as those used in roulette, were invented in England in 1720 for a game called roly-poly. Roly-poly was similar to roulette, except there were no numbers on the wheel. There were alternating white spaces and black spaces, along with a "bar black" space and a "bar white" space. The "bar" spaces were the equivalents of zero and double-zero -- if the ball landed in either space, bets on black or white lost.
• In the Chinese culture, the number four is considered bad luck. High-rolling whales from China are very important to the gambling industry in Vegas. With this in mind, Wynn Las Vegas and Rio have no tower floors that start with four. The elevators count 38, 39, 50, 51 etc.
• Former President Richard Nixon won $6,000 playing poker n his first two months in the U.S. Navy during WWll. That is roughly equal to $42,640 in 2004 dollars. He used that money as well as more poker winnings to finance his run for the U.S. Congress in 1946, which he won.

I really enjoy the fact that casino gaming has had a place in society since ancient times and remains such a strong presence.

There is a plethora of these type of facts. Do you know any? Leave us a comment below:)

Hope everyone is enjoying 2010!!!!!!!!!