The Most Frequently Asked Questions about Casinos and Gambling

Whether you are a professional gambler or just starting out in this field, you must often wonder about various things related to casinos, such as how they started or which ones are the biggest or so on. Well, wonder no more as today we are going to share answers to the most frequently asked casino related questions. Hope you enjoy them and learn something new today.

Which was the first casino in Vegas?

Las Vegas is the city you go to when you want to enjoy a real casino experience. The city has a very old history of gambling with many casinos built and run even before the legalization of the industry. The first casino to be established in the city boundaries was the Pink Flamingo that started its operations in 1946. The casino has been renamed several times since and is presently known as Flamingo Las Vegas.

Is card counting legal in casinos?

Yes, the card counting strategy in blackjack is completely legal and followed by several gamblers around the world. However, it doesn’t mean that casinos like it. Most casinos will make you quit or change the game if you are not subtle enough when counting the cards on a blackjack table.

Which is the richest casino in the world, in terms of revenue?

Now, most people believe or at least assume that the highest grossing casinos must be located in Las Vegas. This was true until a few years ago. Now, the Chinese city of Macau considered the best gambling destination in the world and hosts the most royal casinos in the world. As per a report by the Global Betting and Gaming Consultancy, the following are the top 5 highest grossing physical casinos in the world.

1. Galaxy Macau
2. SJM Grand Lisboa
3. City of Dreams
4. The Venetian
5. Wynn Macau

The top position is usually held by one of these 5 casinos on the rotational basis.

How and when the first slot machine was invented?

The first slot machine was founded in 1895 by Charles Fey who was a mechanic by profession and ran an auto shop. The machine wasn’t actually played in a casino but was put by Fey at his shop to entertain customers while they wait for their cars to be repaired. They eventually became popular and casinos started using them to give their customers an alternative to the famous table games.

Where was the movie Casino Royale filmed?

In the movie, it is shown that the casino was located in Montenegro. In actual, however, there was no real casino. The movie was actually shot in the Czech Republic town of Karlovy Vary. And the Lazne I spa, previously known as the Kaiserbad Spa, formed the casino exterior that was shown in the film. Besides the Czech Republic town, the movie was partially filmed in the Bahamas, England (Buckinghamshire and Surrey), and Italy.

What does the term “craps” mean?

Craps is a popular casino dice game. The game was invented from the British dice game named Hazard. In Hazard, there are snakes with rolling eyes, which were usually referred to as “crabs” (not sure why). The game became popular in French region and because of the language effect, the term crabs slowly turned into craps, giving birth to the game as we see and play it today.

Where are casino chips made?

Casino chip manufacturers work secretly in order to protect the freshly built chips from falling into the hands of criminals. This is why not many people know where and how these chips are actually made. The chips used by modern casinos are not actually made in a single place, but by different manufacturers throughout the world who then sell these chips to the casinos. Some of the famous casino chip manufacturing companies are - Gaming Partners International, Game On Chip Company, Classic Poker Chips, and Palm Gaming International.

How is American Roulette different from European Roulette?

Roulette is originally a French game and a regular roulette wheel had 37 places for the ball to stop. However, when this game reached to the USA, it was tweaked a little by adding one additional place (00) as house pocket on the wheel. This increases the house’s winning probability making it harder for players to win.

Do I have to pay tax on my casino winnings?

It entirely depends on the location where you are playing. Some countries charge tax on casino winnings while many others don’t. Some of the famous casino destinations, including the UK, Australia, Canada and Belgium do not charge tax on the casino winnings. The American citizens are required to pay as much as 25% of their gambling winnings as the tax. Check out the list below.

No-tax: Austria, Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Italy, United Kingdom, Sweden, Spain, Malta, and Luxembourg

France - 2% on poker cash pots, 7.5% (+8% levy) on horse racing and 7.5% (+1.8% levy) on sports betting

Greece - Lottery at 10%

Ireland - Only bookies have to pay 1% tax on all bets

Kenya - Bookies pay 7.5% of their winnings as tax

Latvia, USA - 25%

Macau - 40%

Nigeria - 20%

Netherlands - 29%, only on lottery winnings above €454

Portugal - Only on lottery at 35%

Romania - 1%

Slovenia - 50%, only on lottery winnings above €4,000

South Africa - 6%, only on horse racing

The players are suggested to contact the gambling authorities of the particular region to get a better idea of their regulations and rules regarding the tax levy.

Are casino employees also allowed to gamble?

In some casinos, yes, but not by all of them. Most casinos prefer that their employees do not gamble in their own casinos, however, you might be allowed to play if you do not actually work in the casino but in some other part of the same resort. There are also casinos that do allow their employees to play in free time, given that they do not play in their work uniform.

Are casino games rigged to cheat?

This a very common question casino players often wonder about, especially those players who rarely win at games. Again, it depends on the casino you are playing in. All casinos are audited for these things before they are legalized. This is to prohibit them from using illegal means to alter the outcomes of their games. The rumours are always spreading but there is no specific way to find out if a casino is actually rigged.

It is important to test the credibility of a casino before you decide to join it.