Table games are very popular in casinos today, but they have a long and fascinating history. If you enjoy playing these games, you’ll probably be interested to learn about just how far back in history they go.
Ancient Board Games
The ancient Egyptians are known to have played a number of board games, which they themselves came up with. There is one game called Senet that was played on a gridded board that features three by ten tows of boxes. Each player had a total of seven pieces, which consisted of everything from animal bones to sticks.
Poker
The game that we now know as poker is most likely derived by a Spanish game that was started in the 1500s. This game was known as Primero, and it became wildly popular in France by the 1800s. It didn’t take long before this game made its way over to the United States, where many variations were eventually created.
Blackjack
Blackjack is yet another very popular casino tabletop game, and it can be traced back to the 1700s. While the origins of this table game are a bit mysterious, we do know that it likely started in France. Eventually, French settlers introduced this game to United States when settlers came over in the early 1900s.
Baccarat
Baccarat has been played for a long time now, and its origins go all the way back to the 1400s. It wasn’t until hundreds of years later that this game started being played by people all around the world. Back in the 1700s, baccarat was a very popular game among the French aristocracy. It was once considered a game for the upper class only.
Dice Games
There are numerous popular dice games today, and they have been played by people for many thousands of years. In fact, lots of historians believe that these games are rooted in sacred Aztec rituals. This civilization used dice as a means of trying to bring fire from the bodies of those who were sacrificed to the Gods.
Dice games are also associated with the Ancient Romans all the way back to 4th century C.E. This is by far one of the oldest table games in history, and they have been played by numerous ancient civilizations. While early modern dice games were played with loaded dice, this is no longer the case. Craps and other dice games are extremely popular in just about every casino all over the world.
Roulette
Roulette has become a mainstay in land and online casinos in the modern world. This game of chance comes from 18th-century France. The very first written rules of this game go back to 1796, but many variations of it were played throughout Europe in the past. The first roulette wheels had 0 and 00 symbols on them, which is still the case today. Wheels with just one zero on them didn’t exist until the mid-19th century. With the introduction of the double zero wheel came a significant edge for the house.