Casinos have been the playground of many fun-seeking adults for centuries. Whether you enjoy the sounds of the slot machines or the hustle and bustle of eager casino players, you always know you’re in for a treat when you’re practising responsible gambling.

Thanks to modern technology and advancements on the internet, players now have the convenience of playing casino games online. That’s right! All the fun that happens at land-based casinos can now take place in the comfort of your home or on the go.

But it’s great to know there’s more to casino gaming than just fun games – there are so many interesting facts about gambling! Let’s take a look at 10 online gambling trivia worth talking about.

10 online gambling trivia you should know

We reckon some of these facts might surprise you. How many do you already know?

1. What was the first country to license online gambling?

Did you know that the first gambling websites went live in the mid-1990s? The Caribbean islands of Antigua and Barbuda were the first to license gambling. In fact, the best online gambling sites were operating out of this island nation, owing to its Free Trade and Processing Act. The bill gave the islands the right to distribute licences to businesses interested in starting an online casino, which evidently led to an entirely new and thriving industry.

It was also around this time that the industry’s largest software provider, Microgaming, came to prominence. Microgaming is renowned for being one of the companies to revolutionise online gambling. Today, it is still responsible for some of the most trusted and innovative software, which gives players access to all kinds of casino action online, including slot games and poker rooms.

2. What is the world’s biggest gambling destination in terms of revenue?

Macau is the biggest gambling destination when you factor in the revenue this destination accumulates through its casino industry. Many consider Macau – an autonomous region of China on the south coast across the Pearl River estuary from Hong Kong – as China’s answer to Las Vegas, and it definitely reigns supreme in the Far East. According to Statista, revenue from gaming and gambling exceeded $29 billion in 2019. To put this in perspective, gambling in Las Vegas usually only reaches around $6 billion annually! Macau is known to generate the majority of its revenue from games such as poker, baccarat, and roulette, among others.

3. Charles Fey designed the first modern slot machine. After which symbol on the reels was it named?

Charles Fey named his slot machine the Liberty Bell. It was back in 1898 that he invented the first-ever three-reel slot in the US: it could deliver automatic payouts and sported a lever that was used to mechanically spin the reels. Fey included symbols on the reels such as the Liberty Bell itself – that famous symbol of American independence – playing card suits, and a horseshoe. Players would receive the top prize when they landed three adjacent bells on the payline. Fey’s Liberty Bell Slot Machine was a hit throughout San Francisco and led to the advancements of slot machines as we know them to be today, as well as online slots.

4. You can’t count cards in online blackjack

If you’ve had any exposure to blackjack, whether by playing it at a casino, with friends, or seeing it in a film, you’ll know about card counting. However, not many people actually do it. When it comes to online blackjack, you can count cards to some degree, but online casinos use random number generator (RNG) software or shuffle machines that guarantee a completely fair deal every time, which makes card counting very difficult and practically ineffective. What’s more, all card-counting apps and computer programs are forbidden in the online gambling industry and if you attempt to use one, you can expect to be banned from the site.

5. Why is the roulette wheel referred to as the ‘devil’s wheel’?

The numbers on a roulette wheel add up to 666 (it’s true, we’ve actually got the calculator out to check), which of course is closely associated with the devil! The 17th-century French mathematician Blaise Pascal was the man who created a rudimentary model of this “devilish” game that some now call the “devil’s wheel”. He saw it as an opportunity to experiment with probability although Pascal’s original wheel had 36 numbers on it without any whiff of the additional zero(s), which came much later. Pascal went on to create the theory of probability, which we still use today when playing roulette, and other casino games, as well as more broadly in modern economics, and scientific research.

6. What was the first progressive jackpot online?

The world’s first online progressive jackpot was Microgaming’s Cash Splash (remember it?). It debuted way back in 1998 and is still a popular slot game that’s now available in two editions. The 3-reel version is the original Cash Splash and it had a single payline. The latest version is a 5-reel slot with 15 paylines and an additional scatter bonus feature.

7. What is the most popular online casino game?

Online slots have a unique charm that draws many online casino players to their clattering coin sounds and blinking lights. Slot games have steadily been gaining popularity since the dawn of the online gambling industry. In terms of technology, it’s one of the easiest games to transfer from the casino floor to the online world. There are hundreds of slots titles for players to choose from, with themes ranging from Ancient Egypt to arcade-style slots.

8. What is the most important part of any online casino software?

The RNG (random number generator) software is the most crucial part. It makes playing online casino games possible when there’s no dealer (although there is also a growing genre of live casino games you can play online now, too). RNGs are what make these games fair and ensure, for example, that online slots have random symbols landing on the reels. Trusted online casinos have their RNG software regularly audited and tested by a third party.

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