To investigate who invented casinos we must first investigate where gambling came from. Gambling is so ingrained in human nature that its impossible to say who invented it. It is impossible to say how long gambling has been around for but the earliest record of gambling was in 2300 BC in China. Early gambling was far less organised then it is today, often with no house. The first known gambling house was called the Ridotto. The Ridotto was established in 1638 in Venice, Italy. The aim of the Ridotto was to provide controlled gambling during the Italian carnival season. The Ridotto was hugely popular until 1770 when the government intervened and closed it down. singapore casino
Although this was a slight set back in the progression of organised gambling, gambling and the concept of casinos were too powerful to be quashed. Casinos continued to emerge throughout Europe and with regards to American history, gambling establishments arose in four major cities, Chicago, San Francisco, New Orleans and St Louis. It might surprise you that none of these cities were the gambling capital of the world, Las Vegas. In fact, it wasn’t until gambling was outlawed in most of America that it was legalized in Las Vegas, Nevada and Reno in 1931.
The very first Las Vegas casino was called El Rancho Vegas and built in 1941, other casinos followed suit and built their casinos near and now this is the Vegas strip that we know today. The Las Vegas strip is now infamous as a world landmark and continues to be one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world.
With the rise of technology and the internet, casinos had a brand new venue. Online casinos began emerging in the 1990’s. Initially they were free and the casino games were purely for fun. It wasn’t long before companies began to see the potential of online casinos and invested in them. Online casinos continue to improve to this day with state of the art graphics and lucrative promotions. Operators like online casinos as they are much cheaper to run than land based casinos. Customers like them because of their convenience. Not only can you play without leaving the house but they are also open for play twenty four hours a day seven days a week. The fact that costs of running a gambling house online are lower meaning they can offer free cash in terms of bonuses (which you can’t get in person somewhere like Vegas) fuels their popularity further. Just as the law intervened with land based establishments, there have also been important legislative actions taken to regulate gambling online. The laws continue to change all the time so when you are playing online you should always make sure that the website you are playing on is legal for your jurisdiction.