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What Don’t You Know About Today’s Top Titles?
Public Group active 2 years, 10 months agoThe world’s most popular casino games vary by geography. Aside from the most popular games, regional specialties are also common. Sic bo, for example, is easier to find in Macau than in Atlantic City. And newer variations, like Caribbean three-card stud, are gaining popularity and gradually gaining more attention.
But when it comes to casino gaming, there are three primary games that come to mind for many bettors in Europe and North America: poker, blackjack, and slots. The games are on offer from any and every casino. Even smaller establishments that don’t have traditional table game licensing probably have a video slot or video poker game available.
Each game comes with its own reputation. To paint with a broad brush, poker is known worldwide as a game of skill that requires a bit of intuition and a knowledge of when to strike. Blackjack, on the other hand, is seen as a savvy man’s game because of its relationship to probabilities and the idea that anyone can ‘beat the house’.
Meanwhile, slots are viewed as pure entertainment for their wild themes and audio-visual production. But there’s so much more going on behind the scenes. Here’s what you don’t know about the three games introduced above.
Slots: All About Fanfare
From their original days as one-armed bandits in San Francisco, slots have come a long way. Not only have they survived the transition into digital games, but they’ve also diversified greatly. The first slot machines were kitschy and pop, their reels filled with bright images of fruit and candy.
Today, the production studios that create the most popular titles, such as Starburst and Gonzo’s Quest, function similarly to big-name video game or TV production studios. First, they have offices dotting the globe. Second, they create games using cutting-edge graphics and audio technology. Third, they create games for browsers and mobile, including live-streaming capabilities for certain titles.
In other words, the idea that slots are a cheaper form of entertainment is a huge misnomer. In fact, part of the reason slots are so popular isn’t just because they offer high RTPs, jackpots, and other bonus features, but because they offer an unbeatable gaming experience.
Poker: (Alleged) Outlaw Cowboy Roots
Compared to other games of logic, poker has one major difference: it requires bluffing at times. This throws a huge wrench into the game—one that many non-players might not understand. After all, a good hand will only take a player so far, while their ability to pull off a bluff could see them walk away with the pot through absolutely no merit or luck… just their ability to lie.
This points back to poker’s rough’n’tumble origins in the Wild West. The game evolved from the German pochen and similar European games that spread on the frontier. And while Faro remained more popular than poker for much of the Wild West years, only poker left an out for those with hopeless hands—and nothing fits better with the concept of bluffing than an image of hardened cowboys staring deadpan at each other in a dusty saloon.
In reality, poker wasn’t played until the final days of the Old West in the early 1900s. And even then, cowboys were more likely playing a variation called Jackpot than Texas Hold’em.
Blackjack: The MIT Man
Thanks to films like 21, many understand blackjack as the realm of card counters. Some imagine packs of suited players who disappear amid the hustle of the casino floor, flagging each other with subtle gestures to count the shoe. But the truth about card counting is that it’s not just the domain of super-intelligent MIT teams or prolific geniuses like Ed Thorp.
The truth behind card counting teams is hush-hush. In other words, they continue to exist, but there isn’t much coverage of them. Technically, card counting isn’t illegal… but that doesn’t mean casinos are happy to let known teams into their establishments. And in the past, Canadian and US courts have been apt to side with casinos in any litigation.
So, what does this means? The modern card counting team remains very small to stay subtle, sometimes including a team of two partners. And to avoid detection, they’re likely to travel often.
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