history

Keno is a bingo-like gambling game. Its history can be traced to a Chinese game called “The Game of the White Dove (白鴿票)” invented during the Han Dynasty (187 BC). The name “keno” descends from a form of bingo or … Read More

Fan-Tan, or fantan (Simplified Chinese: 番摊; Traditional Chinese: 番攤; pinyin: fāntān) is a form of gambling long played in China and among Chinese immigrants to America and other countries. History Fan-tan is no longer as popular as it once was, having been replaced by … Read More

Trick-taking games can be traced back to the early 16th century. Whist became the dominant form, and enjoyed a loyal following for centuries. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word bridge is the English pronunciation of “biritch”, an older … Read More

Button Men is a game designed for fan conventions and other public venues. It can be played almost anywhere on short notice (provided the dice are at hand), and games are quick to complete. Buttons are meant to be worn … Read More

Legends abound regarding the invention of Russian roulette. Most of these, predictably, take place in Russia, or occur among Russian soldiers. In one legend, 19th century Russian prisoners were forced to play the game while the prison guards bet on … Read More

One dollar chips from various Las Vegas casinos. Casino tokens are little colored metal or plastic discs utilized in gambling establishments. There are two most important forms of tokens employed in casinos: multicolor tokens of numerous denominations known as chips, … Read More

A financial crisis happens when some financial institutions or assets suddenly lose a large part of their value. Many financial crises are banking panics, and many recessions coincided with these panics. Other situations that are often called financial crises include … Read More

American mathematician Dr. Edward O. Thorp is considered the father of card counting. His 1962 book Beat the Dealer (ISBN 0394703103) outlined various betting and playing strategies for optimal blackjack play. Although mathematically sound, some of the techniques described no … Read More

Early history The origin of playing cards is obscure, but it is almost certain that they began in China after the invention of paper. Ancient Chinese “money cards” have four “suits”: coins (or cash), strings of coins (which may have … Read More

Olympic (or Amateur) boxing is found at the Olympic Games and Commonwealth Games. Olympic boxing prizes point scoring rather than physical damage or knockouts. Bouts comprise four rounds of two minutes in Olympic and Commonwealth and three rounds of two … Read More

Tennis has a long history (deriving from the ‘jeu de paume’), but its establishment as the modern sport can be dated to two separate roots. In 1856, Alex Ryden, a solicitor, and his friend Batista Pereira, a Spanish merchant, who … Read More

Early basketball The first basketball court: Springfield College. Basketball is unique in that it was invented by one person, rather than evolving from a different sport. In early December 1891, Dr. James Naismith, a Canadian-born physician of McGill University and … Read More