Frederick Jace
Why are roulette and baccarat so popular? Some people may say that popularity is determined by their simplicity, or the odds because the house edge in them is small, or that famous Agent 007 made these games popular. However, there must be something more valuable for them to pass the test of time and make their way from the 15th century to today’s fashionable Las Vegas live dealer casinos. Let’s study how these games appeared.
The History of Baccarat
Baccarat is considered one of the top choices in the online casino games list by Qyto. Despite being one of the oldest card games, the origin of baccarat is still uncertain. The first written mention of the game dates back to the 19th century. Yet the possible scenarios for how the game appeared are exciting. Some of them say that baccarat may have appeared as the update of other games such as the Chinese Pai Gow, which was played using dice instead of cards.
While it is generally considered that baccarat came from France, historical evidence indicates that Italy was the game’s home. In the 14th century, the game “tarrochi” was widespread in Italy and, even though there is no link between it and baccarat, tarrochi may have been the predecessor of all card games in general.
Many people think that Italian Felix Falgier was the inventor of the contemporary analogue of the baccarat game that used tarot cards. Among the other versions, a popular Italian game macao could serve as an example for the development of baccarat at the time. People used cards to play it, and the winner was a person with 9 points. This game is often called Italian baccarat and may have been the prototype of modern baccarat.
On November 20, 1959, the Sands Casino in Las Vegas opened the punto banco tables for the first time. That evening began with the commemorative event and ended with a disaster for the casino as it lost a quarter of a million dollars. Baccarat was notable for its exclusivity in those days, since then there were only 15 tables in all of Las Vegas. And most of them weren’t always open, so to get to one of these tables, you had to be either very rich or famous.
The Invention of Roulette
There is still no reliable answer to the question of the place where roulette appeared. They say that the homeland can be China or France.
In the 17th century, the French scientist Blaise Pascal was working on the invention of the perpetual motion machine. He used a wheel and a ball revolving around it in his experiments. The idea of this mechanism was far from gambling. Some people even believe that the idea of roulette was proposed to Pascal by the devil. By the way, roulette is called the “Devil’s wheel” because if you count the sum of all the numbers on it, the result will be 666, which is associated with the devil.
Another version tells about the French law enforcement agencies that have created roulette to distract the population from card games. At that time, the number of card fraudsters was extremely high. And in the new invention, contact with the cheaters was limited.
Another version is connected with China. It is believed that Tibetan monks played “Magic Square” – a game like roulette with 37 animal figures that were subsequently fixed on a wheel and replaced with numbers.
The most widespread are European and American roulettes. They differ in the types of chips, special devices for the game, the number of zero on the wheel. In American roulette, the casino income is 5.3%, and the wheel has two “0” (zero and double-zero). In Europe, the profit is 2.7% on the wheel of one “0”.
Roulette and Baccarat Today
Even though roulette and baccarat appeared many years ago, these games are still popular today. Thousands of players are trying to create a winning strategy to win large amounts of money in these games. A few of these attempts turned out to be successful because this is still a game of chance with unlimited possible outcomes. So, if you have decided to participate in baccarat or join the live roulette session, just relax and let the fortune make its choice!
