What Are The Most Popular Online Casino Games?
Soon enough, we will elaborate deeply into the most popular online casino games, but first, we decided to give you an idea of how the actual chart looks. Right after we will start examining each game separately, but first, we will tell you more about their history and the typical casino players that like to play them.
Top 6 Most Popular Casino Games
As you can see, some of the games in the top 6 are the most popular casino table games in the world, but which one was invented first? Well, it depends on the perspective. If we look at it from a general point, the first gambling games were races with different animals and then the dice games which history dates up to 6000 years before Christ. Soon enough, you will learn all about the most popular online casino games, but first, let’s say a few words about their players.
As you know slot games are simple, you choose how much to bet, the lines you want to bet on and hit the spin button, from then on its only about your luck. We cannot say the same for the most popular casino table games. The players oriented to tables games are usually gamblers who prefer to apply any kind of winning strategy.
Probably you know that some table games are considered games of skill and luck, the most popular casino table games of such are blackjack and roulette. For a reason, there are many books and articles dedicated to complicated math equations that are related to the strategies of winning. See what are the most popular casino games:
Blackjack – The Game of 21
It is said that origin of blackjack comes from France and more specifically from the early ages of the 18th century. Back then the game was called 21, and it was one of the most favourite games of the royalties. As you can imagine the game quickly became popular in the UK too and shortly after it travelled the world. It was called Vingt-Un (21 in French) until the late years of the 19th century. It is known that around the Gold Rush between 1890-1990 the game was already famous in North America as Blackjack.
In the next 100 years, it became a game subject to many scientific or more likely mathematical theories and is stated as one of the few games of skill. Officially the card counting strategy was announced in 1956, from then on many casinos started banning players because of their math skills and even adding them to the common blacklist. In the last 70 years, many books and materials about the game were published, and it became one of the most famous casino games of all time.
Roulette – La Roulette
The origin of roulette was in the early 18th century, while its name comes from the French word for “little wheel”. Of course, there are stories that there was a similar Chinese game that was brought to France, but none of them were proved. However, the truth is that Blaise Pascal, who was a famous French mathematician, inventor and philosopher invented the perpetual motion machine which was used for the creation of the roulette wheel.
In the 18th century, this most popular table game went through several changes, and since 1796 it has looked the way we know it nowadays. Back then in Paris the double and single zeroes were in black and red, but later on, the background was changed to green in order to avoid any confusion for players. In the 19th century, the game was already all around the world. This was also the moment when minor changes like the removal of the double zero were done on a different continent. An interesting fact that you may not know is that the sum of the numbers on roulette wheel comes to 666.
The game became super popular all around the world because of the extensive betting options that it provides. You can bet on the colours, on odd or evens, on vertical or horizontal groups of numbers or separated numbers. This is why there are numerous roulette strategies. Up to this date, roulette is still one of the most popular online casino games.
Poker
Another legendary game about which there are a lot of speculations regarding its origin is poker. Some say that it originated in China in the 11th century, others say that its roots lay in Persia around the 16th century, while some say that it comes from the German/French game Poque. We cannot say which statement is correct, but we won’t be surprised if they are all right. It is not a secret that many ancient games like dominos were invented in China, and then they crossed the globe.
Poker as we know it today started in the early ages of the 19th century in the USA. For about a century it went through many transformations from 20 to 52 cards deck, from person versus person to a game with 5+ players playing against each other. In the late ages of the 20th century was the time when the game became one of the most popular casino games in history. In the 21st century, after the development of online gambling and online casinos, the game is now more popular than ever.
Slot Games – From Mechanisation to Digitalisation
Slot games or the slot machine, as people knew them, before the massive digitalisation that happened in the last ten years of the 20th century, became super popular at the moment they were invented. The first automatic machine was developed between 1887-1895 by Charles Augustus Fey. First was the automatic poker machine. Then the first slot machine with three reels. Fey didn’t apply for a patent, and many others replicated his design and technology.
The biggest manufacturer of such automatic slot machines back then was Liberty Bell. They produced an improved slot machine in the first decade of the 20th century, which we may consider the most classical design of all times with sweets, numbers, fruits etc. In the ’60s the machines became electromechanical. For the first time, the reels were entirely controlled electrically. In the next decade, the first of its kind video slot machine was invented and manufactured in California, USA. A Sony TV was used as a display and a first-generation computer was used to perform the wining calculations.
In 1996 appeared the first fully digital slot game that you could play on any computer, not necessarily a slot machine anymore. From that year onwards the online gambling and betting slowly took over the slot machines and all traditional ways. Of course, slot machines are still available in land-based casinos.
Craps – The Ancient Dice Game
The game of craps was invented in 1125, back then it was called Hazarth by the British crusaders. Of course, if you try to research that matter on your own, you will find several versions of the story. Some say that Roman soldiers invented the game, others that its origin lays with the Arabic nations because they also had a similar game called Al Dar. However, it became popular as Craps in the 17th century when it was brought to France, and indeed the name comes from the French word “crapaud” or translated in English – toad. All of that because of the position of the people playing it on the streets.
Baccarat – Cards On Table
In 6th place is the last most popular table game that was initially made in Italy but originated in France. Some say that it originally comes from the ancient Roman civilization, and it was part of the rituals that were performed to determinate the fate of the virgins. The truth is that card games were not that popular before the invention of the printing press, but right after that they became widely played.
It is very hard to say where the roots of the game lay because similar games were popular in Italy and France in the 14th century. Later on, in the 15th century, it was already super popular among the French soldiers who were coming back from Italy. Until the 19th century, the game was mainly popular in Europe.
It is known that the game arrived in North America around 1871 when an article was written about New York’s Club-house at Long Branch. Back then, baccarat was not yet one of the most popular casino games. It became quite famous with its different variation in the 20th century, especially after Punto Banco was introduced to Las Vegas in 1959.
Top 6 Casino Chart – Where Can You Play Online?
Since now you know everything about the most popular casino games of all time and their origin, development and meaning, you should also learn which are the best online casinos offering them. For your convenience, we gathered the operators that provide the largest and best variety of the most popular online casino games that are part of the abovementioned top 6.
Before the introduction of the top 6 most popular casino games, we said a few words about the players and their common traits. One that we have missed and that is quite often met when speaking of the most popular casino table games is the passion for playing big and betting a lot of money.
Such players are called high rollers, and they usually play only in high-roller casinos where the table limits are higher than usual. Of course, such habit could be considered as an advantage or disadvantage, it all depends on your salary, your skills and the inner feeling when it is time to stop playing because luck is not on your side.
Popular Non-Casino Games
Among all most popular online casino games, there are such that do not require any special skills or a large amount of money. Many of them are considered a lottery in many countries like scratch cards, for example. Others you may see as part of TV shows like the spinning wheels. Such games, including bingo, are also present in online casinos and usually the entry/bet worth is a small amount of money and people play them for fun not to win a fortune.
- Bingo
- Scratch Cards
- Number Drafts
- Lottery
- Spinning Wheels
FAQ
Due to the size and the complexity of this article and the many historical facts that we used, we presume you will have additional questions. For your convenience, we gathered some of the frequently asked questions about the most popular casino games here. If you want to read the extended version of the answer, just click on the jump link.