Many of today's modern casino games will be just the latest in a long line of gambling activities that date back to the earliest records of civilization. Gambling artifacts have been uncovered from ancient societies in China and Italy as well as in Egypt, where ivory dice dating to the period before 1500 B.C. have been discovered. More than 3000 years later, a more modernized pair of dice was being employed in private gaming halls throughout 18th century England in the earliest type of today's popular game of craps.

Keno, another one of the earliest forms of gambling and one with several of the worst odds for the player, is said to have originated in ancient China throughout the Han Dynasty. The first Chinese version of the game featured 120 characters drawn from a popular poem of the time. Although other forms of a lottery were played later in Europe, the introduction of Keno to the u.s. was created by Chinese sailors visiting San Francisco. The Americanized version used numbers in place of characters and jamesgosling.edu.mx blog post 80 boxes rather than 120 in much the same form as is found in casinos today.

Early forms of playing cards dating back to the 9th century have also been found in China. But when playing cards began to be used later throughout Europe several of the intricate designs on the Asian variety were replaced with cards representing men of royalty. Not until the 1500s did a female break in to the designs when the French replaced one of the Kings within their deck with a Queen. That was one of the first designs of the conventional 52 card deck that we still use today for some of the most common casino games including poker and blackjack.

We also can thank the French for inventing another one of the bastions of casino games, the game of roulette. The version of the original French wheel from 1842 had just one zero. And while the winnings generated by the single zero wheels were sufficient to launch the country of Monaco towards its fabulous wealth, the casinos in America felt they needed to add yet another zero to the wheel in order to increase the house's advantage. Today, any serious fan of online roulette knows to search out the European wheel rather than the American wheel because of the greater odds for the player.

As with many of today's modern casino games, the true beginnings of the game of baccarat are disputed. Most feel that the game originated in either France or Italy, but few doubt that the modern version of the game can be traced, again, to the French. The game, known in France as Chemin de Fer was quite popular among nobility within the 16th century and by the 18th century it had end up being the most popular game along the French Riviera. Baccarat finally became popular within the United States when it was introduced at the Sands casino in Las Vegas in the late 1950s.

The fun and excitement in many of today's modern casino games may be even more enjoyable when you become aware of the long and often colorful history behind a lot of.