Some people would risk it all on that odd chance they could win enough to live the rest of their lives comfortably, providing for children, family, in-laws and friends. Not tied down to a job, held ransom by bills pinging into their inboxes.
From a veritable Robin Hood of the gambling world, who risks it all to give the poor their dues, to a malfunctioning slot machine that saw one man place a $4 bet win and become a millionaire, and then get told the machine was faulty: VegasMaster welcomes you to the crazy and interesting world of gambling facts.
Before we get started on our facts that will make you the most knowledgeable gambler at the tables, let's look into a few crazy gambling stories!
The Robin Hood of Gambling Won For The Poor.
The Robin Hood of Las Vegas - Gambling To Help The Poor
A high stakes Blackjack player is a hero to families in debt, after putting his stakes and edge over the house to good use and paying off their debt with his Blackjack winnings.
Each year he goes to Las Vegas to win enough to ease one lucky families troubles. In 2008 he helped a girl with brain cancer and her family out of medical debt and has a website where you can submit your story and get a life changing amount of up to $50,000.
Special Dice In Las Vegas.
A Crazy Craps Story
The Las Vegas Desert Inn to a pair of enshrined dice, on a velvet pillow and behind glass. The story of these dice goes a little something like this: A sailor passing through made 27 straight passes (wins) at Craps, beating odds of 12,467,890 to 1. If he had bet the house limit on each roll he would have sailed off into the distance with $268 million, instead of $750.
Roulette To Reel You In.
Looking for more interesting facts about gambling? Check out our Top 30 interesting facts about gambling info-graphic
Let Roulette Reel You In
At the age of 32, Ashley Revell decided to sell everything he owned, including his house, car and the clothes on his back. He got $135,000 for everything and with his mind made up he walked into the casino and put it all on red on the Roulette wheel. His plan was to either lose everything or have enough to play the World Series of Poker.
He doubled his money, walking out with $270,000.
When Slot Machines Go Bad.
Broken Slot Machine Makes Man Millionaire, Then Doesn't
Bill Seebeck got the surprise of his life when a $4 bet lit up the Hard Rock Casino http://www.hardrockhotel.com/ slot machine he was playing on and he saw he had won $166,666,666.67, making him an instant millionaire. Casino bosses then came over to apologise to him - the machine had a maximum jackpot of $90,000 and was malfunctioning. He was told he had not won anything.
The casino and the disappointed slot machine player later came to an arrangement, but the amount paid to Mr Seebeck was never disclosed.
Sinatra and The Boys Take A Gamble.
Crazy Gambling Facts From Around The World
- In 1910, a law made it illegal to gamble in Las Vegas. This law was in place for 21 years until 1931, when it became legal once again.
- There is one town in Nevada that prohibits gambling. Boulder City, a few mils southeast of Las Vegas, has made gambling illegal.
- 76% of men and 68% of women in the UK gamble. 75% of British teenagers have gambled in their lives.
- Out of all the world's "high intensity gaming machines," 20% of them are located in Australia. That's up there with the fact 40% of Australians gamble once a week or more. They also spend more money on gambling than on sports activities or entertainment!
- During the 18th century, British Gambling Dens paid a person whose only job was to swallow the dice if the police raided.
- Eskimos never gamble.
- A Las Vegas gambler once turned $50 into $40 million, before losing it all.
- In Japan, where gambling is illegal, they give winners prizes, which can then be sold back to the establishment for cash.
- Richard Nixon's first Congressional Run was financed by his WWII poker winnings from the South Pacific.
- Las Vegas casino players and visitors eat more shrimp than the rest of the US put together - 60,000 pounds per day!
- Poker is the leading online gamble people like to take, but Bingo is fast taking over - have OAP's finally discovered the World Wide Web?
- Most Las Vegas slot machines only payout around $108.36 a day.
- 5% of people who gamble will become addicts.
- 84% of all gamblers are male.
- With a 52 card deck, Poker has 2,598,960 chances to win.
- You've got a 1 in 649,740 chance of a Royal Flush in Poker.
- Roulette is sometimes referred to as "The Devil's Game" as the numbers on a wheel add up to 666.
- Keno has a 27.04% chance of winning, whereas Bingo only has a 2.69% chance.
- Keno is the oldest recorded gambling game, dating back to the Han Dynasty between 205 and 187 B.C (B.C.E). It was a means to raise money for Emperor Cheung Leung's Army.
- Blackjack is the only game where knowledge of maths can give you an edge over the house.
- "The Dead Man's Hand" in Poker is named after the hand Wild Bill Hickok was holding when he was shot dead (a pair of Aces and eights).
- Losing players are referred to as "Steamers," "Pideons," or "Plungers," by the industry.
- Casino cheats are called "Crossroads" by casino staff.
- An Ace high Royal Flush has a 650,00 to 1 chance of happening in Poker.
- When dealing a Poker hand, the odds of getting 4 of a kind out of 5 cards is 4,000 to 1.
- The Italians and French both claim Baccarat as their own invention.
- Baccarat means Zero in both French and Italian.
- Jackpots in Bingo in Las Vegas are up to $20,000.
- French Society is responsible for the different classes the different playing suits represent in cards:- Spades are Royalty, Hearts are Clergy, Diamonds are Merchants and Clubs are Peasants.
We hope you have enjoyed your time spent in the crazy world of gambling facts. If you have been inspired to try your luck, you can play a range of casino games at one of these trusted reviewed online casinos. There are even some pretty awesome bonus offers to get you started on your game of choice.
Please note, VegasMaster does not recommend taking risks you cannot afford. If you think you may be at risk of gambling addiction, or if you think someone you know has a gambling problem, please check out this essential information.
