Gambling 25 Crazy Facts You Didn't Know About Casinos & Gambling
List Rules Vote up the most surprising facts about the fast-paced world of casinos and gambling.
Casinos are a huge source of interesting myths, legends, and stories that almost seem too good to be true. There are tales of tremendous good luck ($25 million from slots?), dubious capitalism (atomic bomb parties?), and disgusting personal hygiene (adult diapers to keep a hot streak going?). Some of the most interesting facts about casinos and gambling come from societies where it isn't allowed, proving that it's hard to keep people from the allure of a potential big win.
Gamblers in Japan are forced to exploit a huge legal loophole to get their fix, while one of the world's most famous casinos in Monaco forbids locals from playing at all. In the United States, Las Vegas reigns supreme, but Indian reservation casinos across the country are a huge force in the industry as well - despite humble origins. Here are some of the craziest, most interesting facts you probably don't know about the wild world of casinos and gambling.The Founder of FedEx Saved the Company by Gambling in Vegas
You Can Voluntarily Ban Yourself from a Casino
The Nevada State Prison Used to Have a Casino for Inmates
The Sandwich Was Basically Invented in a Casino
The legend goes something like this: in 1765, John Montagu, the fourth Earl of Sandwich, was such a huge gambler that he didn't want to leave the gaming table to eat. Instead, Montagu told his servants to just bring him some meat between sliced bread so he could eat and play at the same time. Thus the "sandwich" was born... sort of.
In reality, the Earl wasn't much of a gambler, but he did enjoy his namesake meal. The legend came from a French travel guide about London and is the only source of the gambling tale. The story caught on, however, and soon people throughout Europe were craving sandwiches. Montagu didn't invent the meal - it's meat between bread, after all; people had likely been eating this combo for centuries - but he did give it a name and a cool story to go with it (whether he liked it or not!).