The first appearance of the game we know today, as blackjack seems to have occurred at the turn of the seventeenth century. French casinos of the time introduced the game to its patrons under the name of vingt-et-un which in English translates as twenty-one. This precursor of modern blackjack was an immediate success and was soon to be found all across the European continent. Vingt-et-un has undergone some evolution over the years since its launch differing mainly in the odds offered, the role of the dealer and the name.
It seems likely that the game of poker originated as long ago as six centuries when it was a game of bluff played in the kingdom of Persia that was later to become modern day Iran. At the time of its earliest records it was named “as nas” and shared not only the bluffing aspects of poker but also employed systems of betting and hand ranking very close to those used in the modern derivative. Other games that have connected to the development of poker include the Irish Poca the French game Poque commonly referred to in Germany as Pochen, which means to bluff or deceive.
Slot machines can be found in every corner of the planet today and, although there seems to be no reliable data to confirm their exact number, there is little doubt that the total must run into millions. Such numbers suggest a phenomenon that, as in the case of blackjack, has grown over the course of several centuries. In fact, the first emergence of the slot machine was as recent as the turn of the nineteenth century.
The game of Mah Jongg was once strictly an eastern pursuit and was said to have been the invention of Confucius as long ago as 500BC. Reality, however, suggests a much later origin in the early years of the nineteenth century although it may well be an adaptation of a considerably older card game. Mah Jongg is a game for four players played with a set of tiles much like the dominos or rummy tiles of today, but painted with colourful patterns and Chinese pictograms.
One of the earliest forms of gambling to be legalised in Britain was the game of Bingo, this together with horseracing, some rather miserly slot machines and the football pools was the full repertoire for the British punter for many years. Until recently, playing Bingo was a highly popular pastime in many western countries although somewhat rarer in the east. Changing lifestyles and competing entertainments led to a gradual decline in popularity.
Sports betting has been around for a very long time in one form or another. It may be defined as wagering on the results of any given sporting event for gain. These may include the finishing position in a given race, the winner of a given match, the number of points scored in a given event or, indeed, just about any variable outcome resulting from a sporting contest.
