1. hot
   vig
2. sly

The casino advantage is known as the "vig" (short for vigorish), or the rake, depending on the game.

1. London
   Paris
2. Venice

In 1638, the government of Venice opened the Ridotto, the first government-sanctioned, public gambling house.

1. blackjack
   roulette
2. slot machines

The casino edge for blackjack is generally 2 percent, while it has a 25 percent edge for slot machines and a 5 to 7 percent edge for roulette.

1. 24
   38
2. 52

Roulette wheels have 38 spaces numbered 1 to 36, with two additional slots for 0 and 00.

1. 40 percent
   60 percent
2. 80 percent

Slot machines bring in more than 60 percent of annual gaming revenue in the United States.

1. The player is emotionally upset and starts making mistakes.
   The player has had a string of winning hands.
2. The player has just been dealt a strong hand.

When players make mistakes because something upsets them emotionally, it's called a "tilt" or "being on a tilt." An example might be a player who is a huge favorite in a hand but loses to an opponent who hits a miracle card.

1. You track the entire deck.
   You track 2s through 6s.
2. You track 10s and aces.

Counters make no attempt to keep track of every card in the deck. They simply track the concentration of 10s and aces because when the deck is rich in 10s, the player gets more blackjacks.

1. Las Vegas
   New Orleans
2. New York

Early French settlers who came to New Orleans played a card game called poque, which involved bluffing and betting. Persian sailors, at port in New Orleans, taught the French settlers a game called âs, which uses decks of cards comprised of five suits. Most likely, these two games merged into what we know as poker.

1. gleek
   keno
2. red dog

In keno, the player may mark anywhere from one through 20 numbers on a card, which has 80 numbers arranged in eight rows of 10. The player then takes the card to a keno writer and places a bet that the numbers selected will be among the 20 drawn in the next game.

1. $10 billion
   $50 billion
2. $90 billion

The gross gambling revenue in 2006 was $90.93 billion.