When most people think of a casino, alongside roulette and slots, Blackjack is high on the list of games they associate with the environment. Blackjack, also known as 21 and Pontoon dates as far back as at least 1601, first featuring in a story by Miguel de Cervantes, and is now a mainstay of casinos worldwide, earning them more revenue than all other casino games aside from slots.
Part of Blackjack’s appeal is that it’s relatively easy for casino novices to get involved in. Compared to many casino card games, the rules aren’t overly complex and the rounds are fast. The house edge isn’t large and there’s not as much strategy involved as in card games such as poker. However, one known and somewhat dubious strategy of pontoon is named card counting. It has effectively been driven out of casinos on account that it was able to compensate for the house edge and tip the balance in the favour of the player.
The aim of Blackjack is to reach 21, or as close to 21 as possible with your cards. Two cards are dealt for the players, one face up and one down. The player can then place bets based on that card, and then additional bets with each further card. Achieving 21 with the first two cards dealt is called Blackjack (and beats the dealer, assuming he doesn’t also have Blackjack). Another winning outcome for the player is to reach a higher score (of 21 or below) than the dealer achieves with his cards. The final way of winning it when the dealer ‘twists’ (is dealt additional cards) in a bid to beat the players total, and ‘busts’ by going over 21. The game uses one or more, 52 card decks (more decks are now used to counter card counting).
Aces can be used as both 11 or 1 in value. The player needs a higher value than the dealer to win, which offers an advantage to the dealer. The dealer does however have to keep twisting until he reaches at least 17. If the players two cards are both the same, they can split the them to have two separate hands. There are numerous other rule variations in this popular casino game.
Keno is believed to originate from China and historians claim it funded the Great Wall of China. Modern Keno games, however, date to the 19th century and in 1847 the game was played in Macau with 80 Chinese characters. The Americans made it their own when Chinese immigrants came into the US and started calling it Keno.
Big Six Wheel is for players who love the challenge of a good game fuelled with high emotions and a promise of hitting the jackpot. This should tell you that the odds in this game are pretty low, yet it remains incredibly popular in brick-and-mortar and online casinos. You get a large spinning wheel that mounts vertically in a spindle. It has numerous small sections with monetary denominations, a wild card spot where the casino name usually is and a joker.
The first ever slot machine was developed in 1891 in the US, acting as a prototype for other machines to be based upon. It had a lever and players had to insert a nickel which allowed them a spin of the reels. At that time, it could not pay out real money and players who won, got a prize like drinks or cigars. The first of its kind of the modern slot machine was developed by Charles Fey in 1895 which was an auto mechanism with three spinning wheels.
Teen Patti originated in India and is a popular social card game, namely, a multiplayer game that allows up to four players. Teen Patti is very easy to play with simple rules, making it a very relaxed and entertaining game. Numerous software developers are starting to add it to their gaming portfolio. The game starts with three cards which are dealt face down. It is in many instances described as three-card poker which is what it means when translated from its original Asian word. Teen Patti means three cards.