A Brief History Lesson: The Evolution of Gambling
3 min read
Believe it or not, gambling has been present on this planet for possibly thousands of years. It was there in ancient China in rudimentary games of chance and in Egypt where the oldest dice were found. Let’s not forget to mention Roman and Greek pottery, where different situations such as betting on the animal fights were depicted. Humans love to gamble, and they always did.
China as the Cradle of Card Games
When speaking about the origins of gambling, we already mentioned China. There’s a record about a game called ‘white pigeon ticket’ dating back to 200 BC, long before Betting Bonus Codes and online casinos. Besides, some historians believe that some other forms of gambling, such as card games, were initially introduced in China. In the beginning, these cards had pictures of human forms, but later on, when the games started spreading across the world, Europeans started embellishing them with Queens and Kings.
More on Gambling History
Gambling evolved quickly, and as society developed, gambling started to be more organized. The first casinos appeared in the 17th century in Italy. The idea was to control the gambling action among the people by opening a casino. This led Italians to open Ridotto, the first casino in Venice, in 1638. Two centuries after, many European countries decided to embrace this form of gambling and open multiple casinos.
The first time ambling games such as roulette first appeared in the US in the 18th century. They were brought to the United States from France. Some of the most popular gambling locations at the time were steamboats on the Mississippi. However, the first time poker appeared on the market was in the 19th century in New Orleans. Some believe that the game originated in Persia in the 17th century.
Fast forward to the creation of the first gambling machine in the US. Namely, the first gambling machine in this part of the world was designed by Sittman and Pitt in New York. Soon after, Charles Fey in San Francisco invented the Liberty Bell machine. And the first video slot was designed in 1976. All of it led to the emergence of another gambling branch – online gambling.
Online Gambling
The first utterly functional gambling software was developed by Microgaming, one of the most popular online casino game providers. Then, CryptoLogic developed online security software to make the Microgaming software secure. This led to safer online transactions, and the first online casinos emerged in 1994. A few years later, in 1999, the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act was introduced, but it didn’t pass. This is the same year when multiplayer online gambling was introduced. In addition, a few years later, Playtech designed live dealer casino games which made the online gambling experience much more amusing.
Mobile Gambling
With the emergence of smartphones, a new technology era commenced. Internet users were able to play games and search the web via their mobile devices. This presented an excellent opportunity for the gambling industry; thus, mobile casinos appeared. Nowadays, the mobile gambling industry is one of the most lucrative gambling branches.
