"I like to play blackjack. I'm not addicted to gambling, I'm
addicted to sitting in a semi-circle."—Mitch Hedberg

Game Room & Gaming (09)

Poker Chip Collecting
The hobby of collecting casino chips has really taken off in the last 6 years. People have been collecting for years, but until the Casino Chips & Gaming Tokens Collectors Club was formed in 1988, most collectors thought they were the only ones doing so. C>CC today has over 2,500 active members and holds an annual Convention every year in Las Vegas. The Club's 8th annual Convention was held last July at the Tropicana Resort and Casino over a 4-day period. With over 100 dealer tables & collectors coming in from all over the World it was a huge success. This article discusses poker chip collecting, offers poker chip collecting tips and ideas, and referenced websites.

Poker History
Poker is thought to be an ancient game and there is no clear consensus on its actual origins and it appears to be a derivative of many games sharing the same elements as poker. There are several possible origins to the game of poker and the name poker. One of the earliest written references to poker was made by Jonathan Green in 1834 about a card game being played on Mississippi riverboats he called "the cheating game". Finding no reference to it in the Hoyles of the day he called it poker. 2 - 4 people could play with a deck of 20 cards using only the aces, kings, queens, jacks and tens. Some also believe poker originated from the card game brag played around 1825 in the south west of the United States. Whatever the actual origins of the name or the game of poker, it is now the most popular card game in the world garnering television coverage and an enthusiastic following worldwide. Today considered more of a sporting event, the pinnacle of poker achievement is the World Series of Poker (WSOP).

Roulette History
The word roulette is French, as you probably guessed, and it means "little wheel." It is guessed that famous French mathematician Blaise Pascal, known for his work in the field of probability, invented the device. There is no consensus however; for each person you ask, you will receive a different answer as to the origin of the roulette wheel. The first modern roulette wheel, with its even/odd and alternating colors, was used in a Paris casino in 1796. Eventually, as with many other things, the roulette wheel was introduced to the US from the Europeans, sometime in the 1800's. The American casinos, unhappy with the small house edge with these European wheels, introduced the 31-pocket roulette wheel. When you hear the term "American and European wheels", this is what it refers to. The American wheel has an extra pocket, so the odds of a player winning are not as good. If you play roulette, always play with a European wheel if you wish to increase your odds of winning. As Americans become more knowledgeable about gambling and look to increase their odds of winning, we would expect that the European roulette wheel to become even more popular in American casinos. In Europe, roulette is much more popular than other games, in large part because of the better odds of winning.

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