Everything has a starting point, even gambling. From the loved slots to the live table games, each game has a story. Some of you may not believe it, but casino games have been around this world for thousands of years, if not millenniums. Even in different cultures and mythologies (ex.: Greek and Indian), there are legends about gods who played dice or card games. In this blog, you will learn about the history of gambling.
Any gambler that enjoys a great game must know the beginnings of it or, at least, what’s the country that gives life to it. Get ready to dive into an interesting subject, and follow the outstanding evolution of gambling from then to now. The History of Gambling-
Beginnings
Before playing in a great gambling website like Royal Panda casino online, people played games of luck in their houses or more, in temples, palaces, or other exclusive locations. In some cultures, gambling was related to rich families that wanted to take a break with other friends from high societies.
The first games ever existed
Until reaching that point, you should know that gambling began in the Paleolithic Era, probably with a dice game from 3000 BC in Mesopotamia. Asian cultures were the ones that started casino games. Even if it’s not 100% proven, placing bets on fighting animals was pretty much the first form of gambling in China. Card games, lotto, and dominos appeared to the public and caught attention immediately. All of this happened from the 9th to the 10th century and that was just the beginning.
It took another 7 centuries for games like As-Nas, which are the equivalent to poker, to appear in this world. People fell in love with strategies & hazards and poker was for sure an all-time favorite. Besides poker, another interesting game came to life in this world and that’s baccarat. His origins are disputed even nowadays and are still mysterious. But, we will talk more about them in the next section of this article.
From dice, fighting animals, lotteries, domino to poker or baccarat card games from then to the present, there were lots of changes that appear. The game’s principles remained more or less the same and others appeared on the market. And yes, here we are talking about video slots, the casino games that are the most loved and popular today to all of us.
Due to the constant evolution of technology, lots of providers appeared and developed high-end games, with great graphics and nice features. And now, they aren’t available in palaces or just for the high society members, but, to all of us.
Baccarat in Italy
Just like we promise, we will like to discuss the beginnings of baccarat. Some people believe the game was created in Italy in the 19th century while others think baccarat started in the 15th century in France and was later distributed in Italy when the Franco-Italian war took place. We don’t know if baccarat started in Rome in 1400 or later but, one thing it’s guaranteed, it’s the simplest game to play in any casino.
Baccarat or Punto Banco started as most of the games with a legend. In Italy, the game was mainly named Baccara as it means “0” (zero). An old Etruscan legend portrays a young woman that had to throw a dice. Depending on the number she threw, she could’ve become a high priestess if the dice flipped 0 points. She also could’ve lived (if the dice were between 6-7) but she had no right to be a part of any religious activities or she could’ve been thrown in the sea (if the dice were lower than 6).
People say that from this legend, baccarat games derived and became popular. But, nowadays the rules are different, and the gameplay is far easier. All you need to do is to bet on the player, tie, and banker.
First casino in Italy
What happens in Italy is spread worldwide. You may not know that, but the first casino that ever existed was built in Italy. It was known as Casino di Venezia, and it’s still on its feet nowadays on the Grand Canal in Venice. People named it the Theater Saint Moses but later changed its name to Casino di Venezia as it attracted lots of people, and gambling became a trend.
It was built in 1638, and it was the concept of the spark that made others build other casinos from scratch. From 1638 to 1744, more than 120 gambling facilities appeared in Italy. For more than 300 years the casino was a private property until 1946, when the state bought it, renovated it, and re-opened it in 1959.
Gambling in the US
In regards to the US, gambling was first destined to the upper class, even if gambling was started in colonies. Most of the games were taken from the British and updated in the US. Horse races were at the first games that appeared in the US. Virginian landowners created a set of rules for the matches and made a code for the bets.
Then, the horse-racing trend switched to lotteries. They were popular in New Orleans first and later in other cities. Even if lots of Americans fancied lotteries and horse racing, others despise them and fight to close them through law. Unfortunately for them, this did not happen. From 19 to 20 century, many games were available to play directly on streets with other people and later in casinos.
Gambling online
From the old games, the starting points, to the Italians and Americans gambling followed an interesting evolution. The first possibility to gamble online was at Liechtenstein International Lottery. Many states prohibited online gambling at first but, once they saw the impact it had on the state economy, things drastically changed.
Now, you can play baccarat, poker, bingo, slots, roulette, or blackjack from the comfort of your own house. Accessing the games are far easier as they are even available from the mobile phone and tablet. Besides that, there are lots of safe operators that reward their newly registered punters with bonuses.
Conclusion
There are lots of books and perspectives about the first steps of gambling or its evolution. Once you’ll start to document more about this subject, you’ll see that most of the research is centered towards Asia, Italy, the US, and the UK as they are considered to be the ones that boosted gambling nowadays.