Slot Cameras

There are historical debates concerning the exact source of the game, although many feel it is Italian in origin, while others claim the French invented it. Wherever it was invented, baccara (Italian) or baccarat (French) both translate to "zero" in English. The importance of this name is borne out by the tens and face cards, the majority of the cards in the deck, sharing that value. There are numerous varieties of the game played throughout the world. Chemin de fer and straight baccarat were both brought to America and introduced at the racetrack and spa at Saratoga and the ritzy Palm Beach resort in 1911. Each was met with shrugs from the nouveau riche. Both games lapsed in popularity in America due to a distinct lack of interest.The game remains most popular in Europe and Asia. In the European versions, a player or group of players "bank" the game, with other players involved getting paid by or directly paying the game's backers and the House taking a percentage or cut. The most common contemporary American version, in which the House provides the financial backing for the game owes its immediate lineage to George Raft's Capri Casino in Havana, Cuba dating from pre-Castro days. There is a debate as to the exact time and place in which the American version was re-introduced. It came about in Las Vegas in either 1959 or 1960 at the Dunes or the Sands casino. Its originator Tommy Renzoni, stated in his (out-of-print) book , Renzoni on Baccarat, that Punto-Banco as it was called in Cuba, was brought to Las Vegas by him in the late 1950s, as Castro was about to take possession of the island.Renzoni wrote that his game owed it roots to European chemin de fer via ArgentinaHe claimed that the night of the game's first modern American play, the Sandslost $250,000. While still carrying the status of the casino's most exclusive game, baccarat is offered in at least two or more different varieties, making it accessible to almost anyone who wants to play.

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• Pair of Jacks or Better - Pair of Jacks, Queens, Kings or Aces. Achieveing this will return whatever you have bet.
• Two Pairs - A hand that contains two pairs such as two 3's and two 7's. Achieving this pays double your bet.
• Three Of A Kind - Three cards that are the same numberwise. Achieving this pays 3X your bet.
• Straight - All 5 cards consecutive but not in the same suit. For example, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. Achieving this pays 3X your bet.
• Flush - Any 5 cards of the same suit, the numbers do not matter. Achieving this pays 5 to 6X your bet.
• Full House - Two cards of the same value and three cards of the same value such as 7, 7, Queen, Queen, Queen. Achieving this pays 6-9X your bet.
• Four Of A Kind - Four cards of the same numerical value such as four 10's. Achieving this pays 25X your bet.
• Straight Flush - Five cards of the same suit in numerical order such as 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 of hearts. Achieving this pays 50X your bet.
• Royal Flush - Five cards of the same suit, MUST be 10, Jack, Queen, King, Ace. Achieving this pays 250X your bet if you bet 1 to 4 coins and 4000X your bet if you bet 5 coins.

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The number of games and manufacturers of coin-operated machines are almost end less. Choose from slot, gumball, cigar, music, clocks, cash registers, pinball, gun, and weigh machines, horse gaming and golf, to name a few. Slot authoritarian, Marshall Fey, author of "Slot Machines:
A Pictoral History of the First 100 Years,
" said the slot machine mushroomed into a premier collectible after 1976, the year that California legalized antique slot machine collecting. Many states have since followed suit. Robert Levy of Pennsauken, N.J., who has more than 250 antique slots, said he collects because "they increase in value every year. They are a good investment, very entertaining, they make wonderful banks, and they will never be made again." His oldest is dated 1893. Levy, who is for two price guides in the U.S. and one in England, said he has bought and sold slot machines for 14 years. For some collectors, "seek and find" offers the most enjoyment. The rare ones are difficult to locate because many of them were taken to the city dump and are lost forever. Some collectors like the "thrill" of owning an illegal item. Not every state condones ownership of a slot machine, and some states require that it be a certain age before it can be sold. Levy said the Attorney General's office of each state regulates the sale of slot machines, and it is best to check with that office before buying. Cosmetic changes over the years are not the only consequences of the modern world of gaming. "With the old machines, you played one coin at a time and it paid on the center line. You could have fun playing and watching and waiting for the symbols to come up. Today's electronic slots play up to 60 lines at one time; they will take $100 dollar bills and will, geometrically, take money unbelieveably quicker. You can sit down and in a matter of seconds, your money is gone, and so is the fun of the game.

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Although the casinos have always had the home court advantage, that hasn’t stopped the near-do-wells from attempting to cheat the house. In the past, panels of one-way glass were installed in the ceilings over the casino floor. Surveillance people, often referred to as, “the eye in the sky,” would tread back and forth on narrow catwalks while looking down at the games. With binoculars in hand, they monitored both the players and the dealers for any signs of cheating. They maneuvered through spider webs and around posts and rafters in the dark. Today's modern casinos are outfitted with hundreds of cameras that can rotate, pivot and zoom in on a pinhead. These cameras are housed in those half-spherical bubbles that you see, mounted from the ceiling. They send video signals that are fed into dozens of monitors with videotapes rolling. Not all of the cameras’ signals can be shown on a monitor at all times. Just because the camera is on doesn’t mean that someone is watching it. The video can later be reviewed, but the cheat or thief may be long gone. The surveillance crew must switch back and forth between cameras, focusing more on the busy-betting areas and the cashiers’ cages. If the pit is suspicious of a cheat or if a high roller steps into the game, the boss will call up to surveillance to make sure they are watching the action at that table. Eventually, the whole system will be computerized. A network of several hundred tiny digital cameras will be mounted throughout the casino. As these cameras sense movement, they will begin processing a digital signal to a computer. Surveillance software will interpret any actions it senses and the most questionable of those will appear on one of several main monitors where a small surveillance crew will be stationed. Because the footage is digital and fully indexed, it can be immediately accessed and cross-referenced with other footage taken, even if it happened six months earlier. There would be no archived tapes to search through, no hours and hours of rewinding and playing of videotapes. Everything will be stored in one central database.

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