The human race has been playing competitive games and gambling on the outcome for centuries. Since the invention of currency (and possibly before that), players have been making wagers on all sorts of things, and from these shared roots sprang different regional gambling cultures.
In this article, we take a look at some of the most important landmarks in gambling’s history, as well as the different gambling cultures that developed around the world.
Asia
The very first evidence of gambling came from Ancient China. Archaeologists have unearthed tiles that they postulate were used in games of chance. Reference to the ‘drawing of wood’ is made in the Chinese Book of Songs, suggesting that the tiles may have been used in some kind of lottery. There are also the remains of keno slips, which researchers suggest were used in about 200BC in lotteries aimed at raising money for state works, including possibly the Great Wall itself.
The first playing cards were also a Chinese invention. Though the exact rules of the games remain shrouded in mystery, the cards themselves were first produced in the 9th century. It is possible the cards were used as a form of paper Chinese dominoes or perhaps as trading cards — in any case, functions far removed from the 52-card decks we use today.
Europe
Gambling was a pretty popular past time on the streets of Ancient Rome and Greece. The first mention of dice appeared in Sophocles’ writings, dated about 500BC, but a pair of dice have been discovered in an Egyptian tomb that date back to about 3000BC. The gamblers in Rome have been credited with the invention of gambling chips. At the time, gambling was banned inside the ancient city so gamblers played with chips to avoid the hefty fine they would incur if they were caught making bets. Since they weren’t playing for ‘money’, they could claim to be playing just for chips and therefore not technically breaking the rules.
The first mention of the card game baccarat came in the 1400s, when the game travelled from Italy to France. We still play this game today in fact, in much the same form as it began all those years ago.
Blackjack too began in Europe, though its origins are a little more unclear. There were several games that shared blackjack’s basic premise, from the Spanish game of ventiuna, to quinze and vingt-et-un from France. The name blackjack was introduced when the game was taken up in America.
Roulette originated in Paris, though ironically, we now refer to it as the American Roulette wheel. It grew in popularity during the 19th century, thanks in part to its adoption by the famous Monte Carlo casino.
America
In 1891, the very first gambling machines were produced. One, by Messrs Sittman and Pitt in New York, used 52 cards on drum reels, creating a sort of poker game. Another was the Liberty Bell machine, created by Charles Fey in San Francisco. To this day, you will still see bell symbols on slot machines, whether actual or virtual. It is interesting to note that early machines rewarded players not with money but with cigars and gum, though they soon turned to currency as their prizes.
In 1910, thanks to public pressure, America enacted a prohibition on gambling. Of course, we know exactly how that went, that is as successfully as the alcohol prohibition — both practices continued underground thanks to the difficult in enforcing the bans. The Wall Street Crash and the subsequent Great Depression in the 1930s led to the lifting of the prohibition, with some considering gambling the only way to alleviate the crushing poverty of the time.
The future of gaming
The very first virtual game was introduced by Microgaming back in 1994, at the very dawn of the internet. While those games may seem rudimentary to players today, they were the precursors to a multibillion dollar industry, which continues to innovate and evolve even today. Playtech introduced the first live dealer casinos in 2003, creating a niche out of a hybrid combination of land-based casinos and online ones.
The next step was taking gaming mobile. Many casinos have realized the popularity of gaming via mobile devices and have sought to optimize their products for players who like to access games on the go. Casinos have also implemented several bonuses, many of which have become industry standard, such as the no deposit bonus.
Where do we go from here? Virtual reality seems to be the next frontier, with several casinos and game producers venturing into this cutting-edge technology. While still in its infancy, VR has shown plenty of promise in a variety of applications, so it certainly won’t be long until the regular players can access this medium in the comfort of their own homes.