Category: News

Movies are as entertaining as gambling. Its no wonder we have so many gambling movies. Gambling on its own is amazing, imagine how awesome it is when you add it to a movie? This will give you the ultimate entertainment set, gambling movies.

21(2001)

21 is one of the most entertaining gambling movies of all time. Based on a true story, the movie looks at a gambling scheme gone wrong. An M.I.T student who needs money to pay for his tuition gets the chance to raise the funds himself. Sounds motivational until you find out the solution was in counting cards in blackjack. The movie takes the audience on the student’s journey and the consequences of counting cards.

Oceans 11 (2001)

There is no way you can rob a casino and get away with it, except of course if you were in Oceans 11. 11 men and Julia Roberts set out on a mission to rob a casino. The amazing part is that they actually got away with it. We start to wonder what the scriptwriter had in mind when they wrote the script. If you haven’t watched it, the movie is a must watch.

Rounders (1998)

Everything was going well until his friend got released from prison. He was a law school student who had a bright future ahead of him. And he let it all go to help his friend get a few dollars. Rounders is a compelling story that focuses on the love of gambling and the extents that one would go to help their friend.

High Roller: The Stu Ungar Story (2003)

Based on another true story is the movie High Roller: The Stu Unger Story. The movie focuses on the rise and fall of a poker legend. Unlike others, Stu Unger had a gift for cards. He was like the fortune teller for cards.

Everything that matters has a record. Whether the records are set intentionally or by accident does not really matter. What we care about are the records. And because we love gambling and casino games so much, we shall take a look at a few World Gambling and Casino Records.

Largest Online Pay-out

This record is in the Guinness Book of Records. The Largest Jackpot Payout in an Online Slot Machine. Mr J Heywood was the lucky winner of a massive €17 879 645 jackpot. Let’s convert that to our currency, which gives us R282 565 279.92. That’s a lot of money. He was playing Mega Moolah, which just like Jackpot Piñatas, a very popular progressive jackpot at Punt Casino.

Largest Slot Machine Win

So as to avoid confusion, the record mentioned above is for online slots and this one is for a land-based slot machine. The record for the Largest Slot Machine Pay-out was won by a 25-year-old software engineer. After putting in $100, he won $39 713 982, in our currency that’s R535 539 749.81. People are definitely winning with casino games out here.

Most Players in an Internet Poker Room

People who love poker will play it anywhere. But we do recommend that you log in and play it at Punt, where it is faster, bigger and better. The record for the most players in an internet poker room is 307 016, all playing simultaneously. They played a total of 42 814 virtual tables. Tjoh, that was a lot of poker playing.

Largest Baccarat Win

How about we give you a bit of motivation to try online baccarat? The record for the largest win on the game is $12 890 500 which is R173 943 131.21. This was in Macao in 2015.
Log in and play at Punt, maybe you too might be lucky to walk away with one of our many jackpot prizes.
 

Where it All Began

There is no exact date that states when the first casino games were played. Apparently, people were too busy having fun to record dates. We do not blame them. Who would leave a good game of baccarat to take down notes anyways?
The first ever casino’s however, were not called gambling houses. In those days they were referred to as saloons. The first ever European saloon was the Ridotto, established in Venice 1638 by the Great Council Venice. That was way back. Essentially this means that people have been gambling for more than 300 years.
In America, the creation of salons was influenced by the four major cities, New Orleans, Chicago, San Francisco and St. Louis. They were created so that travellers could find people to talk to, drink with and best of all gamble with.

The Oldest Games

Blackjack and Roulette are the oldest casino games that are still played today.

Roulette

The history behind the origins of the game is quite foggy. The most popular theory, however, is that the game was created by mistake. It is believed that roulette was created by Blaise Pascal, a mathematics wizard from the 17^th century. He was trying to create a perpetual motion machine, and somehow, it became a Roulette Table. And the French took all the credit.

Blackjack

The French must have loved to have fun, as the history of Blackjack is also accredited to them. The exact origins, like those of roulette, are rather foggy. Many however agree that it originated in France in 1700. Blackjack was known as “Vingt-et-Un”, this translates to 21.
Now people all over the world can enjoy these games even on the go. South Africans are privileged to be able to enjoy the games at Punt Casino, a top online casino even on the international scene.