Gambling has come a long way since its founding; it is a global industry of significant size in the twenty-first century, with the range of methods and modes available to individuals at its largest ever.
But where did it all begin? Let’s take a trip into the past and look at the timeline of gambling, and casinos in particular.
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Table of Contents
The beginning
In ancient times, gambling was very basic and limited; archaeologists have discovered the remnants of dice from several thousand years ago. We believe that they were first used for fortune-telling and related practices but slowly shifted into a playable way of staking money.
We’ve come a long way from chucking a few archaic dice about to the highly accessible methods we have today. Ancient Romans would definitely boggle at the range of games you can play via the casino online at Paddy Power Games and other such platforms – despite being so well represented within the genre of slots within multiple titles…
The first casino
The real spark of the gambling industry came with the construction of the first-ever casino. In 1638, Venice played host to Il Ridotto. The etymology of the word casino itself comes from the Italian word for a small house.
The success was short-lived, though, as the church’s disapproval of gambling forced the government to make gambling illegal, meaning that Il Ridotto had to be shut down.
Despite its illegalization, the industry began to spread throughout the country and thrive. It was not till the early eighteenth century that other casinos opened up in the rest of Europe, like the Vaux Hall casino in Belgium.
Evolution
Casinos as we know them today – brimming with ostentatious glory – were revolutionised in the nineteenth century, when their interiors were filled with luxurious decoration and design. Every person with some social status aimed to be seen in a casino at some point, which became stimulants for discussion, socializing, and even political conversations. A strict dress code was enforced of the poshest attire an attendee could find.
Monaco, France, was crucial to the rapid development of the casino industry; Francois Blanc founded Le Grand Casino de Monte Carlo, which gradually became famous worldwide for being the hub of gambling activities. The local economy boomed as a result and changed a lot of people’s favour toward the industry as a whole.
It was from these international developments in the gambling industry that paved the way for cities like Las Vegas in the United States of America to become the gambling hot spot for the world. The industry has become an incredibly important one to the economic cycle of our society and our world of entertainment.
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The future
Today, you can find a casino in just about every city you go to, as well as the multitude of options available to download from the app store on your phone. The technological age revolutionised the lifecycle of gambling and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.
Technology like the Metaverse, an integration of physical, virtual, and augmented reality, could hold endless possibilities for the future methods of wagering money on different games – the prospect is quite exciting for lovers of the industry.
