Gambling History

Gambling history can be traced back to 1626, when for the first time, in Venice, Italy a public gambling house was officially legalized. Soon, many more such houses, or casini, were established and they offered a variety of activities for the high Venetian society such as: gambling, political discussions and business transactions.

Many other places in Europe soon followed in the footsteps of Venice.  The most notable one was Spa, Belgium that legalized gambling later on in the 17th century.  Official gambling spread throughout Europe to include England, Germany and France.  Gambling’s popularity continued to sore throughout Europe’s aristocracy long after the demise of the Venetian empire.

The beginning of the 19th century was another milestone for gambling as gambling was legalized by Napoleon.  The gambling industry still appealed to the higher classes offering them luxurious, high standard services and the exclusion of the lower classes.  Myths began to spring around casinos, depicting them as places of dramas, tragedies and incredible turns of fortunes.  Casinos were the places to see and be seen for the European bourgeoisie.

France declared all casinos illegal in 1837, however they flourished across Germany where chips were used for the first time.  A major event in gambling history took place in 1860 when Francois Blanc of Monaco founded a casino to cope with economical depression. Several years later Monaco became known as one of the most glamorous gambling resort in the world and has maintained its reputation until today.  Monaco’s glamorous reputation, coupled with its warm weather attracted the British aristocracy and soon more and more rooms were opened, more different types of games were developed and the influx of money increased tremendously.

In the United States, legal gambling began on the riverboats on the Mississippi river in the State of Louisiana during the 1890’s.  Many illegal gambling joints were set u during the Great Depression, however in 1931 gambling was legalized by the State of Nevada and Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel established modern day Las Vegas known today the “World’s Entertainment Capital”, for it’s luxurious hotels and casinos and first class entertainment.

In Asia, casinos were first opened in the 1850’s, mostly in China and in Saigon, Vietnam where in the pre-war years the "Sociedade de Turismo e Diversoes de Macao” held the monopoly for casino licenses.Today the gambling industry offers a huge variety for gambling fan including casinos, sports gambling and betting on anything from political elections to the winners of the Oscar award.  The development of online gambling in the 1990’s increased the size of gambling community to a potential of billions of player’s and the future of the industry is brighter than ever despite opponent to the industry world wide.