History of Land Based and Online Casinos
While historians agree that gambling has been around in some form or another since the very dawn of human civilizations, even in their very earliest tribal forms, it can be said that we do not yet know for sure when the very first instances of wagering first took place. The evidence does suggest that things got started quite early, however it would be a while before organized wagering would take place. The first instances of this sort of sanctioned and official gambling would have taken place back in Ancient China, thousands of years ago. This may not be the very start, but there are documents that remain which list this kind of activity occurring so that is where experts start things off. Then, it would be in the 17 Century that the next step would be taken in Europe where the very first casinos would be set up. These were initially what their Latin name means which is ‘little house. These early casinos were simply small buildings in the villas of rich Italians where they would have guests over to hear music and gamble. After this, there would be a casino to arise in Italy, as well, in the city of Venice. This Casino di Venezia was the very first real casino similar to what we know today and it is still in existence, regularly drawing people from all over the world who go there to try their luck at wagering in the world’s first ever casino. While other parts of Europe were not as quick to develop casinos of their own due to social repression, there would come a big change that got quite a bit of Europe into gaming.
Monaco was a huge step in this modern direction and it is today famous all over the world. Beginning in 1861, Monaco still operates just as it always has. When the British Empire was not keen on betting, it was Monaco that the British could escape to and the same could be said of a wide variety of other European places. By the time the United States won it’s freedom from Britain, it had developed something of its own gaming culture and this would be a huge past time in the US although the country has traditionally swung back and forth on how it feels about gaming in general. The Wild West epoch was certainly a time of gambling all through the US, but it would be in the middle of the Great Depression that the nation’s real first casino would open in the now legendary city of Las Vegas. Here, casinos would pop up like crazy and the city would come to be known all across the world as a haven for gamblers.
The games would grow in popularity in Vegas, Monaco and Macau as all the different games mixed and mingled around the world. Soon one was as likely to see poker in Macau as they were to play Sic Bo in Monaco. The heritages mixed together and today we see it all going online. Building on the success of the pachinko and slot machines, gaming went first mechanical and then digital. Today there are online casinos that cater to folks from across the globe, all of whom love the fun of wagering over the web.