The busier our lifestyle is, the more we love evenings at home and our friends’ visits. Not in the mood for having a night off – well, what about a board game and pizza party at home? Or would you prefer board game and cocktails one?
For many people, card and board games are among the most popular leisure time activities on weekdays. A game or two of chess, checkers, or backgammon is a great way to switch off from work and chill out.
In fact, for many urbanites relaxing becomes a problem pretty often. Leaving the office, we can’t leave behind our thoughts about work; even at home we are still thinking about our tasks, deadlines, meetings, bosses, clients, phone calls, and projects. We check and answer corporate emails from home PCs and mobiles. If you do this, it means that it’s high time to ‘stop and smell the roses’… say, to invite your friends to play poker.When you are sitting around the table drinking a cocktail and playing games, all thoughts about work disappear. Work will be tomorrow, and now it’s time to have fun!
To fully enjoy board and card games, one should at the very least have cards, sets of chess and checkers pieces, a chessboard, a backgammon set, etc. – and a table to play these games on. A special checkerboard table is a good idea if you love playing chess and checkers. For hardcore enthusiasts there are special gaming tables, like the one designed by Attilio Zanni, a famous Italian designer. His and his brother Fabrizio’s brainchild – Bellavista Collection, the brand that specializes in producing Italian luxury furniture – recently showcased this gaming table called Las Vegas at Salone del Mobile Milano.
This wonderful table, made of solid walnut wood with brass details, not only looks chic and classy, but also is fully equipped for playing checkers, chess, backgammon, and poker. With this table, you’ll really have Las Vegas in your home.
This year Bellavista Collection’s stand at Salone del Mobile featured 20 interesting newly created items. The Las Vegas table was shown right at the stand entrance, together with a bar unit called ZEUS and a chic-looking club chair named CLAIRE with a brass base and fashionable leather upholstery. Styled as a room of a sociable bachelor, this part of Bellavista’s exposition turned heads of the visitors.
As Attilio Zanni said later, when he created Las Vegas table, he was inspired by his client from the USA, who ordered a custom-made gaming table. Such a table became the very first item of this kind available from Bellavista collection. It is pretty likely that in the nearest future Las Vegas will be followed by other gaming tables – just because such luxury furniture may find a ready market.
Nowadays people have an eye for items related to entertainment; board and card games are extremely popular with people from all walks of life. The same could be said about bars at home. A bar unit is not an article of daily necessity but having one at home definitely makes one’s life more enjoyable. So, arranging a gaming area in a living room could soon become a mainstream trend.
Actually, rooms and areas dedicated to entertainment is not a new word in interior design. Lots of people try to find little extra space in their homes for a special area for having fun, and interior designers readily meet the demand. A gaming area can be located in any place available: in an attic, in a basement, or it can occupy a part of a living room. A game room can well be combined with a home theater, creating space where you can have a good time with your friends, be it watching a movie or playing games, or both. There are no rules for design of this area: everything depends on who will use this place and what games will be played there. Tastes differ, so such a room may have a table tennis, pool, or shuffleboard table, or even arcade game machines, if you like them that much.
Board Games: Train your Brain and Have Fun
Well, why chess, checkers, backgammon and poker were picked for Las Vegas out of virtually hundreds of thrilling games that exist in the world? Maybe because all these games are exciting indeed, but they all are games of skill rather than games of chance. Playing these games is pretty good for brain, not to mention being entertaining. That’s why they are the most suitable for those who like activities which are both smart and fun.
What is more, these games have long history: all three board games are more than a thousand years old!
A chess-like game already existed in Ancient India as long ago as in the 6th century AD. Since then, chess changed drastically (but retained its general idea) and now it’s among the most popular board games all over the world. A game similar to checkers has been played for millennia: the oldest checkers board dating back to 3000 BC, was found in Ur, the Sumerian city-state in ancient Mesopotamia. Checkerboards and checkers pieces found in Ancient Egyptian burial chambers are now kept in the British Museum.Backgammon is nearly 5,000 years old, judging from archeological discoveries made in the Middle East.
As for poker, this card game is much younger. Actually, poker is a family of card games with hundreds of variations, all of which combine gambling, strategy, and skill. Poker became widely popular since the beginning of the 20th century, and now it grew far beyond just a pastime. Millions of enthusiasts all over the world, lots of professional players, regular tournaments with six-figure prizes – that’s what today’s poker is.
Even if you aren’t going to become a professional poker player or a world chess or checkers champion, playing these games will do you a lot of good. And so will the time well-spent with your good friends.
