The Amazing History of the Invention of the Sandwich and a Game of Cards

As the clock ticked and the cards kept turning late into the night, John Montagu’s hunger grew. The year was 1762, and not a single soul at the card table in that small, dark, chilly London room thought they were about to witness the birth of one of the most iconic inventions in culinary history. The cards turned, the drinks flowed, and Montagu’s hunger grew.

It was a cold and foggy night. The London streets were dimly lit by the flicker of oil lanterns, and a game of cribbage was underway. In 18th-century London, meals were formal affairs, events in and of themselves — and a meal certainly never made its way into a game of cribbage. Games of chance were their own kind of event too, much like a meal. The two simply didn’t converge. But Montagu’s hunger grew.

On an unknown date in 1762, John Montagu, Lord of Sandwich, asked his valet to fetch him a meal. “But what shall you eat while playing a game of cribbage, sir?” the valet asked. “Fetch me a piece of meat pinched between two pieces of bread. I will eat it in one hand, without a fork, and the cards will stay clean.” The valet did as he was asked, and on that cold, foggy night in a dimly lit London card room, the sandwich was born.

Legend has it that word spread through town fast, and soon everybody had to try a sandwich. This isn’t a joke — before Montagu’s late-night card game, not a single soul in Europe or early America is on record eating a sandwich. Plenty of ancient written recipes exist, but none for the sandwich until decades later. Beer recipes from 3400 B.C. have been discovered. Roast boar from the 5th century is written down. There’s even a recipe from 900 A.D. for “hangover cure stew.” Almost unbelievable, but true.

In America, George Washington was laying the groundwork for a new nation. In England, John Montagu was laying the groundwork for one of the great advancements in culinary history. So now that you know the amazing story of how the sandwich was born from a London card game, you might be asking: how can we make it even better?

As the clock ticked and the cards kept turning late into the night, John Montagu’s hunger grew.

The year was 1762, and not a single soul at the card table in that small, dark London room could have known they were about to become part of one of the most enduring stories in culinary history.

The cards turned. The drinks flowed. And Montagu’s hunger grew.

It was a cold and foggy night in London. The streets were dimly lit by the flicker of oil lanterns, and inside, a game of cards was underway. In 18th-century England, meals were formal affairs—events in and of themselves. A proper meal certainly wasn’t something you ate with one hand while playing cards.

Games of chance were their own kind of event, too. The two simply didn’t converge.

But Montagu’s hunger grew.

Legend has it that sometime in 1762, John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich, was unwilling to leave the gaming table for a meal. Instead, he asked for meat to be served between two pieces of bread.

No fork. No knife. No interruption.

Most importantly, no greasy fingers touching the cards.

The story goes that the idea caught on. Other players began ordering “the same as Sandwich,” and eventually the Earl’s name became attached to the meal itself.

The sandwich was born—or, at the very least, it finally had a name.

People had certainly eaten bread and meat together long before Montagu sat down at a gaming table. But the Earl of Sandwich is widely credited with popularizing the particular handheld meal that would eventually bear his name.

And there is something wonderfully fitting about the fact that one of the most ubiquitous foods in the world owes its fame to a man who simply didn't want to stop playing.

While George Washington and his contemporaries were laying the groundwork for a new nation across the Atlantic, John Montagu was unknowingly helping lay the groundwork for one of the great advancements in casual dining.

More than 250 years later, we decided it deserved an upgrade.

From the Card Table to the Gaming Floor

We teamed up with Monte Cristo Gaming customer Matt Schink, former owner of The Trop Club in Loves Park, some time past to see if we could make Montagu’s famous invention just a little better—while staying true to the pastime that inspired it in the first place.

The memory of this night is cemented in our heads. Times were tough, COVID had shut down the business that had only opened months before, and everything seemed still. As if we were poker players and just went all in awaiting the next move. It was a cold December night in 2020, a light rain trickling down a stripmall tin roof, and a glimmer of light from shutdown slot machines illuminating the room the “Jackpot Slider” was born. “Just because we cannot be open, cannot game, cannot gather; does not mean we cannot reinvent and reimagine what can be when we open back up” said Matt Schink, the owner of the Trop Club.

The idea was simple: create something specifically suited for the gaming floor.

Something you could hold in one hand. Something hot, satisfying and easy to eat without stepping away from the action. Something that felt a little more exciting than the standard bar sandwich.

In other words, exactly the kind of thing we imagine the Earl of Sandwich would have appreciated.

The Jackpot Slider is everything Montagu could have dreamed of: a manageable, handheld bite made for the gaming experience—hot, satisfying and carrying just a little of the excitement of hitting an unexpected jackpot.

Whether you're riding a hot streak or looking to break a cold one, it's a pretty good companion to have at the machine.

Some things have changed since 1762. The basic idea hasn't.

When the game is good, nobody wants to leave the table.

Stop by the Trop Club to try the Jackpot Slider yourself, or ask your Monte Cristo Gaming representative about bringing ideas like it to your location.

The Jackpot Slider is everything Montagu could have dreamed of: a manageable, handheld bite that’s easy to eat while gaming, hot and full of excitement like the feeling of a sudden jackpot. It delivers everything anyone riding a hot streak — or looking to break a cold one — could ask for. Stop by the Trop Club to try it yourself, or ask your Monte Cristo Gaming rep about it next time we’re on site.