Most casinos offer a wide choice of
games, loosely based on the three basic items of equipment used in gaming
- cards, dice and wheels. Mechanical games (those that used wheels or
other moving equipment) include roulette, slots, boule, big six wheel, and
a form of lottery called keno. Craps, two-up and sic-bo are all played
with dice, or tokens such as coins. Card games include blackjack, poker,
punto banco (also called chemin de fer or baccarat) and red-dog.
Regional Differences
The
games played in casinos vary from country to country. Some games have a
number of international variations which are known by different names,
others are seldom played outside their country of origin. Poker, craps
and slot machines are commonly found in the USA and in international
resort casinos, whereas European casinos tend to have traditional games,
like French roulette, boules and chemin de fer. Two-up is confined to
Australian casinos. As the name suggests, Caribbean stud poker is
particularly popular in that region, although it is also played
elsewhere.
Different Decks
Casino cards are usually larger that normal playing cards. The two
standard packs (decks) of cards used widely in casinos, English language
cards and French language cards, differ only in the symbol marked on the
court (or picture) cards. In the English deck the King, Queen and Jack
are marked with the symbols K, Q and J respectively, while the French
cards use R, D and V (standing for Roi, Dame and Valet). Although the
symbols differ, the cards are easily identified by the pictures and
players using an unfamiliar deck should not be confused.
House Rules on Leaflets
Many casinos produce leaflets
outlining the various rules and providing brief details on how to play
each of the games. Some casinos also give lessons at quieter times of the
day, enabling players to try the games and learn the rules without losing
any money.
Most casinos offer a wide choice of
games, loosely based on the three basic items of equipment used in gaming
- cards, dice and wheels. Mechanical games (those that used wheels or
other moving equipment) include roulette, slots, boule, big six wheel, and
a form of lottery called keno. Craps, two-up and sic-bo are all played
with dice, or tokens such as coins. Card games include blackjack, poker,
punto banco (also called chemin de fer or baccarat) and red-dog.
Casino cards are usually larger that normal playing cards. The two
standard packs (decks) of cards used widely in casinos, English language
cards and French language cards, differ only in the symbol marked on the
court (or picture) cards. In the English deck the King, Queen and Jack
are marked with the symbols K, Q and J respectively, while the French
cards use R, D and V (standing for Roi, Dame and Valet). Although the
symbols differ, the cards are easily identified by the pictures and
players using an unfamiliar deck should not be confused.