Ten Ways to Have Fun and Lose Money Quiz

Answer: Roulette

Gambling is a popular form of entertainment with a long history and a worldwide presence. People are attracted to making a lot of money easily, despite the poor odds of that actually happening. Gambling as entertainment works best when you determine how much money you are prepared to lose to have a bit of fun. Odds always favour the house (gambling organisation). The golden rule after you have lost your money is to walk away - don't chase your losses. This is uncommon - many gamblers believe their luck will change, and they will at least win their money back. Sadly, this rarely happens. Gambling can be addictive.

Roulette is a casino game that originated in Italy, but it was popularised in France. A spinning wheel with numbers 1-36 arranged in slots in alternating red and black colours around a wheel is used. A zero slot is added, and an extra double zero is added if you are playing in the Americas. A small ball is spun in the opposite direction around the inside edge of the spinning wheel until it slows and lands in a specific slot. There is a layout next to the wheel with numbered squares where gamblers place bets. People can bet on a single number, red or black or a combination of numbers. A croupier pays out any winnings and scoops up all the losing chips into the house. If the ball lands on zero or double zero, the house wins every bet (unless someone bet on either of the zero slots). The zero slots are where the house makes its margin. Also, the payout odds are not at parity. (eg If a person bets on a single number and wins, they win 35 to 1. However, the chances of winning are 1/37 or 1/38.

Answer: Horse Racing

Horse racing, one of the most ancient of all sports, is to determine which horse is the fastest over a predetermined distance. This premise has been unchanged since at least Roman times. A race meet is a major social and cultural event with plenty of pageantry and colour based around a few hours covering a program of several to many horse races. However, for all its pageantry, horse racing is underpinned by an enormous gambling presence and is the fundamental reason for the event. Punters study variables associated with any given race, such as the horse's form, the jockey's recent riding history, how much weight the horse will carry and other variables. There are betting agents at the track (bookmakers) and external agencies that will accept bets and which usually broadcast the event on in-store TV sets.

As races are often close, photos are taken at the finish line to determine the winner, second and third place. Winning margins are expressed in terms of horse anatomy: A nose or a short half-head is the smallest margin a horse can win by. A head is the next winning margin, which is the length of a horse's head. What follows is a neck, which is approximately a quarter of the length of the horse. After neck, winning margins are recorded as (horse) lengths, with the next margin being a half length, then a three quarter length. A length is the distance of a horse from nose to tail. Margins thereafter are by number of lengths. When the race adjudicator cannot separate two or more horses as they cross the finish line at exactly the same time, then the race is declared a 'Dead Heat'.

Answer: Poker

Poker is a series of comparing card games in which players bet over which hand is best. There are many different versions of this game: the Number of cards used from the pack, number of cards in play, cards dealt face up or face down, and the number of cards shared by all players. Regardless, the play begins with each player making a forced bet called a blind or ante (ante means before in Latin). The play continues clockwise, with each player matching the previous player's bet ("call") or folding (exiting the game), losing their initial bet. Each player can increase the bet ("raise"). Play continues until all players have called their last bet or have folded. If there is only one player left, they win the entire pot without having to reveal their hand. If more than one player is left, there is a showdown to determine who has the best hand, with the winner collecting the pot. This is one gambling game where the player has some control over the outcome. While the cards dealt are due only to chance, the player can use game theory, probability and psychology to improve their chances of winning.

Poker had its origins in either France or Iran. In the 21st century, it is a popular casino and online game. Poker games with high stakes are popular as television programs.

Answer: Craps

Craps is a dice game in which players bet on the sum total of pips when two dice are rolled. Street craps is an informal game where players bet against each other. Casino craps is where players bet against a bank. The game originated as a European game, but it was popularised in the US, where its popularity increased dramatically in the late 19th and 20th centuries.

Casino craps (also called bank craps) is where one or more players bet against the casino. The play consists of a player (shooter) rolling two dice (called a come-out roll). If this roll totals 7 or 11, this is called a natural, and the shooter has a win (pass). The game ends.
If the come-out roll totals 2, 3, or 12, this is called a crap and the shooter loses (called a missout). The game is over.
If the shooter rolls any other number, the total becomes known as the player's point.
Once the player has set a point, they continue to roll until one of two outcomes occur: Any subsequent roll that matches the point means the shooter has won a pass, or, a if subsequent roll is 7, causing the player to have a missout.
Once a player has a missout, the dice are passed to the next person, who becomes the new shooter.
Bets, using chips, are placed by the shooter and others watching the game. The dice have stringent specifications and serial numbers to avoid substitution.

The game has its own slang lexicon, particularly with terms for the dice total: 2 is snake eyes, 3 is ace deuce, double five is hard ten, yo is 11, and boxcars are 12.

Answer: Blackjack

Blackjack (also known as pontoon, twenty-one and vingt-un) is the most popular casino banking game in the world. The game is a comparing card game where players compete against the dealer (usually provided by the house) rather than each other.

The object of the game is to gamble by creating card totals higher than those of the dealer's hand. However, you cannot exceed a total of 21 (or you will bust). If you and the dealer have the same count, the dealer wins. If the dealer busts, all remaining players will win. Number cards count at face value; court cards - the jack, queen, and king count as 10; and aces count as either 1 or 11, whichever is more favourable to the player. If a player exceeds 21 points, they bust and lose. A total of 21 on the starting two cards is called a "blackjack" or "natural" and is the strongest hand. As the player has some options regarding the desirable card total, this is a gambling game where skill is important for any favourable outcome.

Answer: Two-Up

A traditional Australian gambling game is two-up, where a player called a spinner tosses two coins (specifically two pre-decimal Australian pennies) resting on a kip (small piece of wood), into the air. Players bet on whether the coins will both fall with heads up, both with tails up, or one of each (known as obverse, reverse or odds, respectively). The game is usually played in pubs across Australia after the Anzac Day march, in part to honour the diggers (soldiers) who fought in the wars. This is because two-up was played extensively by diggers during rest periods in WWI. Gambling was a diversion for them, and the army brass turned a blind eye. As such, the game was a celebration for returned soldiers, but it was illegal on every day except April 25th. When Australia's first casino opened in 1973 in Hobart, two-up was offered as a (legal) table game, but not every Australian casino offers the game.

When the designated thrower is about to toss the coins off the kip, the ringkeeper (ringie, game manager) yells "Come in Spinner" to start the game and end the betting process. The ringleader makes money by taking a commission from the spinner's winnings, if any. "Come in Spinner", the phrase, has entered the Australian vernacular as an idiom recognising when someone has been fooled or deceived.

Answer: Bingo (UK)

There are two major versions of Bingo. The British version uses a printed card of 15 numbers on three lines and 90 balls. The American and Canadian version uses a five-by-five grid and 75 balls.

Bingo is a probability game in which players cross off numbers on cards as the random numbers are drawn by a caller. The winner is the first person to cross off all their numbers and shout "Bingo!"

There are various games played. A requirement to cross off all numbers is a full house. Other games include four corners and one or two lines.

The British version has nicknames for most of the numbers used. Because they resemble two legs, 11 is called "Legs Eleven". "88' is called "Two Fat Ladies". "16" is "Never Been Kissed" and "17" is "Dancing Queen" (an ABBA song). Curiously, this lexicon or a regional variation is absent in the American game.

Bingo halls were common in Britain in the '60s, but Bingo as an activity has declined, mainly due to the smoking ban and the increase in online gambling.

Answer: Baccarat

Baccarat is a card game that is popular in casinos. The game's origins are disputed, but variations came from Japan, China and Korea, with the modern game coming from Cuba.
In baccarat, the object is to get your cards to total closest to nine. One bets on whether the player's or banker's hand will be closer to 9. Card values are face value for 2-9; 10, Jack, Queen, and King are worth zero, and an ace is worth one. The hand with the value closest to 9 wins, and if both hands are equal, it's a tie.

There are variations of the game. The most popular game in the US is Punto Banco, where the casino is always the banker. Two cards are dealt to the players and the banker face up. If either the player or banker has an 8 or a 9, the game ends, and winnings are distributed or collected by the banker. If neither has an 8 or 9, drawing rules determine if the player gets a third card. The player's outcome determines if the banker gets a third card. This game is purely one of chance. The player has no scope for any strategic play.

Chemin de Fer is a variation of baccarat and is popular in Europe. Two cards are dealt to the player and two to the dealer, all face down. The player can either stand or draw. If they draw a third card, it is drawn face up. The three cards are totalled and must not exceed 9. After all the players have made their choices, the banker will decide whether to take a third card or not, and then will compare their hand to those of the players. If any player has a higher total than the banker, then that player wins. If no player has a higher total, then the banker will win. Unlike Punto Banco, where the casino is always the banker, in this game, the role of the banker is rotated between the players. In Chemin de Fer, you have more chances than Punto Banco to win as you have options in determining your final total.

A third variation is Baccarat banque, where the position of banker is auctioned at the start of the game, and this position is then fixed until the shoe containing three decks has been exhausted. Scoring and play are similar to Chemin de Fer.

Answer: Instant lottery

In 1974, lottery gambling was revolutionised with the advent of scratchcards (aka scratch off, scratch ticket, scratcher, scratch-it, scratch game, scratch-and-win, scratchie, lot scrots, or scritchies). Instead of buying a lottery ticket and holding it until the lottery is drawn in the future, scratchcards became hugely popular when introduced, as a ticket buyer knew instantly whether they had won or lost. A scratchcard is a small sheet of thin cardboard that conceals numbers or patterns. The concealed information is revealed by scratching off an opaque waxy covering with a coin or fingernail. Interest is maintained by the availability of different scratch cards with different games - there are even crossword-type scratchcards.

Winning tickets are paid out by the ticket seller. Prizes range from a few dollars to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Instant lotteries are gambling games of pure chance.

Answer: Slot Machines

A slot machine (fruit machine in Britain), poker machine or pokies (Australia and New Zealand) is a mechanical gambling machine that creates a game of chance for its customers. It is a mechanical device where three or more reels spin when activated by a coin or token. Initially, a lever needed to be pulled once a coin was inserted to activate the spinning mechanism, but this no longer is necessary with electronics making most functions automatic. The machine pays prizes according to the pattern of symbols displayed when the reels stop "spinning". The prizes are returned coins from the machine itself.

Slot machines originated in Brooklyn, New York, in 1891.

Slot machines are the most popular gambling game in the world. In the US, about 70% of its income is derived from slot machines. They are colloquially known as one-armed bandits as the pulling lever on one side of the machine resembled an arm. The bandit component refers to the machine's ability to willingly take coins or tokens and return much less in winnings.