Fun Casino Facts
How much do you know about casinos? The gambling world has been around for centuries, creating years’ worth of weird and wonderful casino trivia. Find out more about the industry’s most interesting facts below.
The World’s Biggest Slot Machine
Built in the 1950’s, Super Big Bertha is the name of history’s largest slot machine. Standing at over 2,5 metres tall and 2 metres in width, Super Big Bertha is the world record holder in the slot machine size category! The machine’s size also meant that it housed a whopping 8 reels and 20 reel symbols, making your odds of spinning in a win on Super Big Bertha less than 1 in 25.5 billion.
The Origins of the Casino Shoe
Have you ever wondered where the concept of the ‘shoe’ in casino games came from? Used in card games like baccarat and blackjack, the casino shoe originated in Cuba, also around the 1950’s. Casino operators in Cuba started using shoes in their casinos to minimize cheating by dealers, who they suspected were helping certain players out to earn extra tips. The shoe provided more security, as did upping the number of card decks used in each game.
Monte Carlo’s Unlucky Night
If you’re familiar with the Gambler’s Fallacy, you’ll know that just because a certain outcome has come up many times doesn’t reduce its chances of reappearing in the future. In August of 1913, players at the Monte Carlo roulette table hit black an incredible 26 consecutive times. In order to compensate for the long black winning streak, almost all the players started betting on red, losing millions in the process!
History’s Biggest Online Slots Payout
Online slots have produced some massive payouts in their time. However, the biggest payout on record belongs to the Mega Fortune progressive slot. Won on January the 20th, 2013, an anonymous Finnish player bet €0.25 on the slot on Paf.com, triggering a record-breaking win of €17,861,813.
Gambling in Good Company
The courier company FedEx is a brand name known around the world today. However, in the company’s earlier years, its creator Fred Smith came up with a creative solution to gather enough funds to pay a looming fuel bill. Taking the last $5,000 from his company, Smith visited a blackjack table in Vegas where he promptly won $27,000. This allowed FedEx to continue its business, and later become one of the biggest corporations across the globe!
