There’s no place quite as glamorous or exciting as a vast casino floor.
These locations seamlessly blend the extravagance of a finer stay with a thrilling atmosphere. Excitement abounds at the roulette table, while players quietly strategize over at the blackjack tables. It’s full of intrigue—to put it lightly.
In reality, most players stick to digital platforms instead of over-the-top brick-and-mortar casinos. The reason? Virtual casinos offer more variation and accessibility. Players can sample new slots on the go, and even new providers.
For example, Americans now have access to dozens of virtual casinos. Each has its own unique offer designed to attract newcomers with free spins on select slots being the most popular.
Brands like 888 casino, SkyVegas, and BoyleSports are some of the operators listed here that offer free spins as part of their welcome bonus.
With just a few clicks, players can start sampling some of the world’s most popular slots with some of the world’s most trusted casino brands. But how did we get here? After all, most casino favorites are well over a century old.
Ever wondered about casino origin stories? Here’s how the modern casino came to be back in Europe.
The World’s First Fiction Author & Blackjack
Once upon a time, blackjack was known as Vingt et un or twenty-one for early French and English players. The game’s origins are unknown and likely developed over the course of centuries—but we do know when it was first mentioned in an official text.
That came back in the early 1600s when Spain’s Miguel de Cervantes mentioned the game in a novel titled Rinconete y Cortadillo, which described a gambling scene. Miguel de Cervantes might be ringing a bell. Cervantes is the famous author of Don Quixote—one of the most famous novels written in the Middle Ages.
Medieval Physics & Roulette
Scholars believe that roulette developed from the Italian game of Biribi—and a failed invention from a Renaissance-era physicist. Enter the world of Blaise Pascal. This forward-thinker helped pave the way for future advances in physics, philosophy, and math. But not all of his projects were successful.
Following the failed development of a perpetual motion machine in 1720, Pascal’s early prototypes slowly made their way to Paris. There, the wheel was adapted for gaming and helped spur a new form of Biribi—one that involved a spinning wheel and a croupier.
Finger Foods Hit the Market
From failed physics projects to Medieval novels, the modern casino has some truly intriguing origins. But let’s switch our focus toward another intriguing intersection: finger foods. Some UK readers might already know where this is going: the Earl of Sandwich.
During the early 1700s, finger foods emerged in high society as an aristocratic form of finger food… one that was usually played around a card table late at night. But one evening, the 4th Earl of Sandwich, John Montagu, asked for staff to place a slice of roast beef between two pieces of bread.
Given Montagu’s career in the navy, some believe that its more realistic that he would have had his first sandwich at his desk. That might be true given how quickly the trend spread to areas like Spain and the Mediterranean.
Slot Machines & Poker
Did you know that the first prototypes of modern slots was designed for poker? At the turn of the century, an immigrant named Augustus Fey was manufacturing the very first slots in San Francisco. But his idea originated in Brooklyn—where two other tinkerers had crafted a five-reel machine with all 50 cards in a standard deck painted on them.
The setup was simple: Players spun the reel just like a normal slot, then waited to see which poker hand would hit. The better the poker hand, the better the payout.
