hist-games: query re: gambling competitions

[Crescentia _]

I'm organizing a gambling competition for an upcoming SCA event, and was 
looking for any interesting/ different/ offbeat ideas as to how to go about 
formatting the competition. I had thought about using it as an opportunity 
to introduce people to some more obscure games than the usuals--- but I also 
didn't want to overwhelm them when they just wanted to have fun. ^_^

Does anyone have any suggestions for an interesting direction in which to 
take this, a historical story around which to build the competition, or just 
an unusual approach to recommend?

Thanks,
-Crescentia