If you’ve had enough of playing traditional casino games like slots, poker tables and roulette wheels, why not give something else a try? From betting on gerbil fights to competing against chickens in tic-tac-toe, here are some of the world’s most unusual casino games.
At Hanukkah celebrations worldwide, casinos often host dreidel, an ancient spinning top game associated with Hanukkah that can be found worldwide including one visited by astronaut Jeffrey A Hoffman; or pachinko which combines pinball with slot machines.
Tic-Tac-Toe Chicken
Tic-tac-toe or naughts and crosses (depending on your country of residence) involves placing X’s and O’s into a three by three grid and the first player to get three marks in any horizontal, vertical, or diagonal row is declared the winner.
Casinos have learned that over time tic-tac-toe loses its initial appeal and players quickly break even and stop playing, but one way around this problem: employ a trained chicken!
These feathered carny folk have long been beloved fixtures at county fairs, but have recently expanded their showmanship into Vegas and Atlantic City. Trained by Bunky Boger at his Springdale, Ark. farm which specializes in training chickens to perform extraordinary or extraordinary feats;
Boger has trained several dozen of these chickens, which he’s used successfully to drive player activity and generate publicity for casinos. Since it doesn’t involve real money gambling, this activity falls outside of gaming regulation’s purview and falls under an individual property’s Entertainment/Promotional/Events department’s purview.
War
Casino War is an engaging card game pitting players against a dealer and their highest hand against one another; any tie results in a tie. One of the easiest table games to learn, it doesn’t involve complex strategies either!
Before cards are distributed, players place a bet within their stake limits. After receiving one card from the dealer and one from themselves, if they choose “Go to War”, an additional amount equal to their initial bet will be added to the betting space and burned by the dealer in order to give each player and himself one new card.
War is a fun game that rewards both original bet and additional bet to its winner, while some casinos provide tie bets at 10 to 1. Ties don’t affect the outcome of original hand, making this an enjoyable way for players who struggle with math in blackjack or get dizzy playing roulette to have some fun without getting overwhelmed by math-driven blackjack or roulette games.
Dreidel
At Hanukkah, Jewish children all over the world enjoy playing a classic spinning top known as a Dreidel for a game of chance that also serves to teach about fairness between individuals. While its rules may seem simple enough, Dreidels offer powerful lessons about fairness to both participants and other players in society.
Players begin the game by placing tokens in the center of a table and taking turns spinning a Dreidel. When it lands on either a Hebrew letter nun, gimmel, or hey they collect all of them; otherwise they have no effect; if it lands on either nisht or heh they gain half.
The Google Dreidel proves that even traditional games can remain relevant by adapting and modernizing them with modern technology. By tapping into new audiences through traditional gameplay, Hanukkah traditions will live on for future generations to enjoy.
Rodent Roulette
Formerly known as Rat Roulette, this casino game used live rats (or mice or gerbils) instead of a conventional roulette ball as part of its play. A croupier would spin a wheel specially made to accommodate rodents as gamblers bet on which number slot they would end up landing in – popular up until its banning for its inhumane nature in 1940s.
Brick-and-mortar casinos go all out to lure customers in, from playing tic-tac-toe with a chicken to betting on the results of a gerbil’s roulette wheel – using some unusual yet cruel games as bait to bring people through their doors. Online gambling provides the opportunity to try some of these bizarre casino games without leaving home; just be careful not to bet against animals as this may spook them and put them at risk from predators and poisons like mercury poisoning.
