Traditional casino games based on everyday activities

Many of the most popular casino games have origins outside of gambling, with many being based on activities from day-to-day life throughout history. In fact, some casino games are a direct result of people enjoying their pastimes so much that they wanted to gamble on them. Below we’ve listed some traditional casino games and their everyday activity counterparts:

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**Casino Games -- Chess **

Bridge_

Two of the games on this list are strategy-based card games that were so similar in gameplay that one is thought to have been derived from the other. These are contract bridge (a popular trick-taking card game played by four players in teams of two) and the Persian game of nas, which was very popular during the Sasanian empire (224-651 CE). It is though that , specifically in England and Ireland during the late 19th century. One theory suggests that duplicating the game to four players was a way to make the game more exciting and appealing to crowds at private card rooms. Another theory suggests that bridge was developed independently from whist due to its similarity to nas. Either way, the game saw an increase in popularity following World War I when soldiers learned it from each other, leading to its mainstream success. Bridge became so popular that a contract was standardized in 1925, transforming it into the game we know today. Bridge is still played worldwide, making it .

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Chess

Another two games on this list are strategic games that bear a striking resemblance to the ancient strategy board game, Chess. The Indian game of Chaturanga is widely regarded as the precursor to chess and several other games, including the Chinese game of Xiang Qi and the European game of Chatrung. Chaturanga was the first board game to feature army-like divisions (similar to those used in the Kshatriya battle formation in ancient India). This is where each player controls an army, a center piece (known as the Elephant in Chaturanga), and chariot pieces that act as guardians - sounding remarkably like the set-up for a game of chess. Like bridge, chaturanga influenced numerous games, solidifying its place as an influential ancestor to modern-day strategy games.

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Casino Games – Sports 

Soccer 

Football may be the world's most popular sport, but there is an argument for the total bets placed on another sport hitting half a billion dollars taking the top spot. That sport is soccer (aka table football). Also known as bubble hockey or table soccer, this tabletop game became available in the 1970s and was an instant hit thanks to its competitive nature and multiplayer capabilities. Up to four people can play, controlling figureheads that move around in an effort to score goals against each other using spins and flicks. It has stood the test of time too - just look at how the .

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Billiards/Pool

Billiard tables date back to 1475 in Renaissance Italy. Initially called birordo, an Italian phrase meaning "bird like", the billiard table featured a curved table and no pockets. The aim of the game was for players to hit a small ball toward larger birds with feathers in their tails. The feathers would scatter when hit, making the players laugh (therefore birordo). Fast forward to 1646 and the French changed the Italian game, adding pockets to the table and transforming billiards into a game focused on potting balls. This new version of the game quickly spread throughout Europe, seeing a number of variations develop including black pool, which was first mentioned in a book in 1826. Black pool was renamed pocket billiards before being shortened further to pool. Today black pool is referred to as eight ball pool, while pocket billiards refers to any type of pool played on a table with pockets.

Criquet. A form of cricket played at English public schools. As it often lasts from tea-time till dinner-time next day, is amazingly ugly to watch, and results in a winner and loser who cannot be told apart, it is very popular with American tourists visiting England.

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Criquet/Cricket

While Dale Berry might have a dig at cricket in the above quote, there is no denying that the UK export is bigger than ever before, with over two billion fans across the globe. Unlike other sports turned casino games (that typically make the transition to bolster flagging revenues), cricket went in the opposite direction and created a casino game to celebrate its success. Cricket-themed table games are huge in casinos across India, featuring a large wheel that is divided into 54 segments - one for every testing ground of cricket, from school boy cricket up to international test matches. Players place bets on which cricket event they think the wheel will land on, with additional betting options including which team will win the toss, what the final margin of victory will be, and even the weather.

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Casino Games - Music 

Pinball

Like pinball machines, music has been around for centuries in various forms. However, it wasn't until the 1900s that jazz music started to gain popularity in New Orleans and then spread throughout America, influencing other genres such as swing, blues, rock, pop, and hip hop along the way. While pinball itself didn't directly influence any other games, pinball machines did evolve in line with cultural changes. For example, early pinball games reflected the Art Deco style that was big in America during the Roaring Twenties, with flashy designs and bold colors. Pinball games in the '40s and '50s were influenced by space-age culture, while the advent of electronic pinball machines in the 1970s reflected the growing dominance of technology. Slot machines, on the hand, were inspired by cash registers, which were also big in America during the late 1800s. Like a cash register, slots have a column of coins or tokens that align once a winning combination has been hit. There are also symbols on the wheels of a slot machine that closely resemble the colorful icons found on fruit machines and slot games.

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Casino Games - Drinking Games 

Beer Pong

If you've ever played a rousing game of bowling-themed pinball, complete with bumper ramps shaped like tenpins and a flipper-controlled bowling ball, then you may be surprised to learn that this game made its way into arcades inspired by a drinking game. Played on a table filled with cups containing liquor, beer pong sees two teams take it in turns to throw a ball at the cups with the aim of making it into as many as possible. Not only have thrown games taken place at universities across the US (breaking Guinness World Records in the process), but bowling pinball machines also proved popular with students looking for an alcohol-fuelled arcade experience.

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Casino Games - Children's Games 

Pachinko

This list wouldn't be complete without mentioning the Japanese slot machine alternative pachinko, a parallel gaming path that evolved in a very different way to slots. Thanks to strict gambling laws in Japan, pachinko machines technically do not allow players to win cash prizes. Instead, players are rewarded with internal parts and steel balls that can either be exchanged for prices or fed back into the machine. This may seem like an odd system, but it allows pachinko halls to operate legally while still giving players the rush of gambling and winning. It's worth noting that pachinko has been compared to pinball thanks to its vertical structure and multiple flippers, but the skill element required to this children's game is closer to that of a video game rather than a game of pinball. Kenny Rogers came good on his promise to build a pachinko parlor after singing about said plans in his 1978 song, The Gambler.

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Casino Games - Toilet Seat Racing

Ostrich Racing

You read that right - in the tiny outback town of Birdsville, Australia, there is an annual race that sees participants race against each other on ostriches. Dubbed the "world's most dangerous sport", ostrich racing made its way to the United States in the late 1800s/early 1900s, inspiring a few different ostrich farming boomtowns in California, Texas, and Arizona. When the demand for ostrich meat and races faded, these towns disappeared. However, there are still ostrich farms and racetracks open to visitors today if you ever fancy a go. If that sounds too risky, why not have a go at toilet seat racing instead? This wacky race sees participants slide down a water slide and grab the first toilet seat they see. The person to grab a seat and return it to the start line wins. While this isn't a casino game, toilet seat racing is popular enough in West Virginia to earn guests a round of family-friendly fun at the Moomau Inn's Hilltop House resort.

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