Online Gaming Breathes Life into Forgotten Games
If you’re not from India, the chances are that you’ve never heard of Teen Patti, let alone played the game. Although it’s traditionally played in Indian homes during Diwali, this card game hasn’t gained much popularity outside the Indian subcontinent. At least not yet.
However, traditional games like Teen Patti are experiencing a revival for a relatively unlikely reason – internet casinos.
Gaming sites tend to have thousands of different games in their game libraries. Most of those are slots and table games, as is the case in brick-and-mortar casinos.
Online casinos also have the luxury to get creative with their games. Some of them often decide to spice up their gaming offer not by creating new games but by reviving forgotten ones.
Ancient Games Make a Comeback
As you can see for yourself in this Pure online casino review, this platform covers plenty of traditional gambling games – baccarat, roulette, poker, and so on.
No surprise there, as most online casinos do the same. However, this particular site has gone one step forward and included a couple of card games that aren’t commonly played on the internet, especially not for real money.
The games we’re talking about are teen patti and andar bahar. Both are card games, traditionally played during religious holidays in India.
Although India has a 6-centuries’ long gambling history, these games have usually been played for fun among family members. However, they now have their online versions, which can be played for real money.
The same goes for many other games that used to be played just for fun. What we’re talking about are games like:
- Backgammon – Probably the world’s oldest board game (dating back to the 3rd century BC) now has its gaming version available in many online casinos
- Parcheesi – A cross and circle board game of ancient origin, which gets a mention in Mahabharata (~4 century BC)
- Pai gow – Played with 32 dominos, the game dates back to 10th century China
- Keno – Legend has it that this game helped raise funds for the construction of the Great Wall of China in the 7th century BC (modern historians place its birth a few centuries later).
All of the aforementioned games have been around for centuries or even millennia. Still, probably the best example of an ancient game going through a revival thanks to online casinos is dice.
World’s Oldest Gambling Game Goes Online
The history of dice games can be traced all the way to the stone age, with evidence of prehistoric people playing games using animal bones. These sorts of games are mentioned in a number of ancient texts, including the Iliad and the Odyssey.
The popularity of dice games has been constant throughout the centuries. Still, it did fall slightly behind when other casino games started emerging.
Roulette, poker, and especially slot machines became gamblers’ favourites soon after they were invented. As a result, casinos started omitting dice games from their offer. However, they seem to be making a comeback, not in regular casinos, but their online counterparts.
Almost all reputable online casinos now have at least some dice-based games in their collection. Some games you may come across include:
- Craps
- Sic bo (also known as hi-lo)
- Bunco
- Hazard
- Chuck-a-luck
- Chō-han
Then, there are also some online casinos that offer instant dice games, in which the point is to guess whether the total is going to be higher or lower than the previous number.
Some Forgotten Sports are Also Coming Back
A few years ago, Netflix made a documentary about traditional sports whose popularity hasn’t reached much from the place where they were invented. Calcio Storico, for example, is a rugby-like game played only in Florence. Buzkashi, a game involving the head of a dead goat, is only played in Kyrgyzstan.
Sure, none of those is likely to become a global phenomenon. But, some traditional sports are getting increasingly popular in recent times. Kabaddi is probably the best example.
Even though kabaddi has been around for centuries, it seems that this sport has never been as popular as it is today. It saw its reemergence in the 20th century as a competitive sport. Still, it wasn’t until a couple of years ago when kabaddi saw its popularity skyrocket.
Today, it’s one of the most popular sports in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. It’s not just among sports fans, but bettors as well. The fact that there are plenty of online sportsbooks that have kabaddi in the betting offer has certainly helped it.
Another good example of an ancient sport making its comeback in the 21st century is lacrosse. This could possibly be the world’s oldest team sport, as its roots can be traced back several millennia. Its birthplace is North America where native tribes used to play it (and bet on it) long before European settlers arrived.
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