It’s hard to pinpoint when and where gambling culture started. The need to take a risk on an outcome seems to be a primal need, even as the necessity for hunting and danger as a way of surviving has subsided. If anything, the comfort and convenience of our daily lives has only made that need stronger.
Gambling instruments have been found in China dating back to about 2300 BC; they used coloured tiles in a game of chance. In Egypt, ivory dice have been found dating to around 1500 BC, and there is evidence of gambling from ancient India, Greece and Rome. Even “loaded” dice have been found in the preserved remains of Pompeii, suggesting that cheating is probably as old as gambling itself!
As with many cultural pursuits, the well-documented lives of ancient Romans provide us with a fascinating insight into the role of gambling. Claudius redesigned his carriage to facilitate dice-throwing and Caligula confiscated the property of centurions to cover his gambling debts. Roman soldiers purportedly gambled for the robes of Christ after his crucifixion. But let’s stick to factual history for now...
Native Americans placed bets on the outcome of serious illness within tribes. They also wagered possessions on the potential yields of an upcoming harvest.
Henry VIII outlawed gambling when he found out his soldiers were spending all their time on wagers – despite being an inveterate gambler himself. When Anne Boleyn was tried for treason, the court had odds of 10-1 on an acquittal.
So entrenched in society was the concept of gambling, that national lotteries began to spring up. During the American Revolution, the Continental army was funded by lotteries, and George Washington himself bought the first ticket for a federal lottery in 1793. Nearly all state governments sanctioned lotteries, and by the 1830’s there were 420 lotteries in America alone.
Frontier America gave birth to the archetypal image of lawless gambling that still persists to this day. Riverboats and saloons offered great opportunities for “sharpers” – or professional gamblers – but were not safe places to be dishonest. Cheats and con men were often lynched.
In the 1830’s a group of sharpers moved from the Deep South up to Cincinatti and opened the first “Wolf Trap”. These public gambling houses took ten percent of winnings and provided equipment and supervision, although they often fell victim to rowdy street gangs and violence.
After the Civil war, corruption in the legal gambling industry led to evangelical reform. Blatant fraud in the Louisiana state lottery led Congress to outlaw the remaining games. In 1910, Nevada – the future gambling mecca of the world – made it a felony to operate any gambling game.
Prohibition made drink and gambling illegal activities; it couldn’t, and didn’t stay down for long though. The difficulties inherent in prohibiting personal freedoms led to more and more public assertions of free will, in the form of moonshine bars and shotgun gambling halls. Eventually, the laws were once again relaxed, first for betting on horse racing – which was growing in popularity – and then, following Nevada’s lead in 1931, for all types of gambling. Casinos sprouted from the desert sands to form the huge gambling centres like Las Vegas that we know today.
The modern age of gambling has allowed people to bet from the comfort of their own homes via the internet. Websites such as Riverbell.com offer online poker and online blackjack as well as a host of other online casino games.