2. The Nevada State Prison Used to Have a Casino for Inmates. Gambling is such a huge industry in Nevada that even the state prison had a casino inside it for 35 years. That's right: inmates could play blackjack, craps, poker, and even bet on sports inside the "Bullpen," a stone building on the prison's grounds in Carson City from 1932 to 1967. A new warden from California shut it down that year, saying gambling was a "degradation" to the inmates.
4. Some Gambling Addicts Pee All Over the Gaming Floor. Some gamblers simply take things too far: addiction counselors say that some problem gamblers are so impaired by their addiction that they simply urinate all over themselves or wear adult diapers rather than step away from the table or slot machine. For instance, in Indiana in 2007, a gambler filed a complaint with the state's Gaming Commission after he sat in a pee-soaked chair at a slot machine. And in 2015, a New Jersey man urinated into a slot machine's coin slot rather than leave the gaming floor.
5. You Can Voluntarily Ban Yourself from a Casino. If your addiction to gambling is getting out of control, several states allow you to ban yourself from casinos, making it a crime to step foot on the gaming floor. Ohio, for example, has a so-called "Voluntary Exclusion" program for gamblers looking to kick the habit that allows them to ban themselves for either a year, five years, or life. If you choose the lifetime ban you better mean it: there is no way to get your name off the list once you commit to quitting for good.
8. Slot Machines Used to Actually Dispense Fruit-Flavored Chewing Gum. Ever wonder why slot machines have little pictures of fruit on the wheels? It's because early 1880s-era slot machines would actually dispense fruit-flavored gum. The machines also dispensed tokens meant to be exchanged for drinks and cigars before pumping out actual coins in 1888.
9. "Craps" Comes from "Crabs". Why is the popular North American casino dice game Craps called Craps? It's a simple equation: language + time = bonkers. Historians think it all started with an old British dice game called Hazard (such a better name). In Hazard, rolling "snake eyes" was called rolling "crabs" (for some reason). French settlers in New Orleans in the mid-1700s kept Hazard alive, but over time, the combination of French and English-speaking players and changes to the game's rules slowly turned "crabs" into "craps" (for some reason) and a whole new game was born, eventually leaving Hazard nothing but a distant memory. Viva le Craps!
11. The Numbers on a Roulette Wheel Add Up to 666. Gambling and superstition go hand-in-hand, so it's not surprising that some mystical properties have been assigned to some popular casino games. The biblical "Number of the Beast" makes an appearance in every casino with a roulette wheel: if you add up all the numbers on the wheel, you get 666! The coincidence, coupled with gambling's knack for ruining lives, has earned the roulette wheel the nickname "The Devil's Wheel."
14. Casinos Are Illegal in Japan (But There's a Loophole). The Japanese have devised a
loophole to allow gamblers to get their fix: while casinos are illegal in the country, Pachinko parlors are not. Pachinko is a slot machine-like game that earns players little silver balls. The balls can be traded for alcohol, toys, or other prizes ... but you can also ask for "special prize" tokens. These tokens can be redeemed at separate, state-regulated shops for cash, thus enabling gamblers to earn money in a country that technically forbids gambling.
Question:which of this casinos and gambling facts do you find most funny, amazing or surprising?
Lets discuss...
That is actually a pretty interesting set of facts, knew some of them before but others are really obscure. That's very bizarre about the numbers on a roulette wheel but then there is nothing particularly special about 666 in mathematical terms. That's pretty funny to read about inmates being allowed to gamble, but in reality they're doing that every day regardless of whether it is allowed or not. While it's to be expected that casinos would have a self exclusion list, it's even better that they don't allow you to override it later at any stage - this is something online casinos should collectively engage in. It's also pretty sad that people get so hooked that they cannot even tear themselves away from the tables for a toilet break, if you ever get that far then you really need to use that lifetime self exclusion option.