True casino lovers know all the classics by heart: slots, poker, blackjack, baccarat, and roulette. While some players prefer to dedicate themselves to a single game, others can play them all. It isn’t difficult to find pages teaching how to play those games, best strategies, and even books about them. How about specialty games, though?

What’s Special?

Specialty games became sort of an umbrella term to refer to any casino game that doesn’t fit into one of the games above. It means there isn’t only one kind of specialty game, but many of them. You can find plenty of options at Viabonus.com as a good example of potential ‘speciality games’ deliver for visitors and players. Check some of the most popular ones below.

Video Poker

The first video poker machines came out in the 70s and weren’t immediately accepted. It was also known as “poker slots” in its early days, and indeed, both machines bear some resemblances. The machines are straightforward and rely on a Random Number Generation (RGN) system.

The similarities end here, though, as video poker requires actual skill. Because of it, the odds are very similar to regular table games. There are several kinds of video poker. Here

are some of the most popular: Jacks or Better, Deuces Wild, and Joker’s Wild. However, there are dozens of variants for this game.

Keno

Early references to this game date 2,000 years back in China. Keno is a bingo-like game typically overlooked by most players. Yet, it can be a very entertaining one. Like bingo, a lottery involves cards with printed numbers and numbered balls. It’s easy to find both live and online versions of it.

There are balls numbered from 1 to 80, but unlike bingo and lotto, here the player picks the ten numbers to be hoped for during the game. The house will “call” 20 from the 80 numbers available. Prizes are awarded according to the amount of well-guessed numbers.

Lotto

Here’s another game almost as old as time. Like Keno, this game originated in China over 2,000 years ago. Many lotteries are state-run, but not all of them. There are loads of options in online casinos too.

Here, players should pick six numbers out of a sequence, plus an extra one. There are usually five grids, and the prize sum will depend on many numbers one guesses right. The range of numbers available may vary from a game to another.

Scratchers

This game has several names: scratchcard, scratch ticket, scratchum, scratch-and-win, and more. It gained popularity in the mid-70s when the Scientific Games Corporation created the

first computer version of this pastime. It was designed to be a kind of instant lotto or bingo if you wish.

The creator, John Koza, realized that the same algorithms employed on the lottery and bingo games could work here. Most versions present a grid with different values. If players are lucky enough to match three, they win the matched amount.

Craps

Craps is perhaps one of the oldest games around. Some say it was enjoyed by Roman soldiers already. Other theories link it to Arab origins. Yet, the most accredited version points to the 12th century, during the Crusades.

There are four kinds of bets, which should be placed before the dice roll. There are four kinds of bets: Pass Line, Don’t Pass Line, Come Bets, and Don’t Come Bets.

Hi-Lo

Hi-Lo is a very popular card game, and maybe the key is its simplicity. All players have to choose is whether the next card will be higher or lower. The King is the highest card in this game, while the Ace is the lower. The odds vary each round, and so does the payout.

It happens because if a player is dealt a Two, for instance, the chances of getting an even lower card (the Ace) are quite narrow. So, payouts will be higher if the odds are lower. It has different versions like Hi-Lo Switch and Hi-Lo Premium like video poker.

Conclusion

Specialty games are a world on their own. Because there are so many of them, it would be impossible to list all options here, like Dream Catcher, Monopoly, and countless other titles. This list only brings the most traditional of them, including millennia-old pastimes.

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