The longest poker session by one player, offline at least, was set by Larry Olmsted in 2004 who played Seven Card Stud at Foxwoods in Connecticut, US for 72 straight hours. He turned his $100 gambling stake into about $1000 during the session. Oddly enough, Larry also holds the record for the longest distance traveled between golf rounds.

You might think that the world’s largest casino was in Las Vegas or exotic Macau…but you’d be wrong. As of 2008, the largest casino is actually on the east coast of the US and it’s the same as mentioned above – Foxwoods. Their expansion at that time added almost 2 million square feet to the already massive 4.7 million square foot complex.

The first lottery as we know them was held in 1434 in a section of Europe that included France, Holland, Belgium and Flanders. People could buy the tickets and hope that the number of their ticket would win a cash prize. This system was devised to come up with revenue for the government to help the poor and fortify the towns for protection.

The first Triple Crown winner was Sir Barton in 1919, ridden by Johnny Loftus as jockey. It took 44 years of the prize being available before it was won and it has only been won 10 times since. The last time was back in 1978.

The first World Series of Poker was organized by a casino owner named Jack Binion. In 1970, he invited seven of the best poker players he knew to come to Las Vegas to compete in the tournament. Those seven initial players remain as legends to this day: Doyle Brunson, Puggy Pearson, Crandell Addington, Carl Cannon, Sailor Roberts, Johnny Moss and “Amarillo Slim” Preston. There wasn’t even any cash prize at the first tournament, only a silver cup. The bracelet that is now familiar wasn’t introduced until 1976.