As you know, gambling is one of the most popular and profitable businesses in the world. Every year, owners of slot machines and casinos receive trillions of dollars. But how did such games arise, which gambling game was the first in the world and why are millions of people obsessed with the idea of winning at roulette?
According to historians, excitement is in the human blood, and it has appeared since time immemorial when ancient people began to hunt and set traps for wild animals. Even then, a person began to pay special attention to his fortune. After all, if you’re lucky, the prey will fall into the trap and the family will not starve. Around the same time, all kinds of rituals aimed at attracting good luck appeared.
The most common gambling game in ancient times was dice. The Arabic word “excitement” comes from “azzahr”, which means “dice”. Archaeologists are still finding the attributes of this game in different parts of the world. The oldest bones found are more than 40 thousand years old.
Scientists also note that dice had different shapes in different cultures. They were not only hexagonal, as we are used to seeing, but also tetrahedral, round, cylindrical, etc. In addition, they were made of all kinds of materials: animal bones, stone, iron, fruit bones, etc.
However, the dice were not only entertaining. With their help, tribal shamans could predict the fate and future events, as well as resolve disputes and other issues. Images of people throwing dice can be seen in ancient drawings and canvases. Dice gambling is also mentioned in the mythology of Ancient Greece, the Vedas of Ancient India, Arabic manuscripts, and Chinese writings. In these writings, you can also read about people’s addiction to gambling. After all, anything could be put on the line, even the life or freedom of a person.
For example, Germans who could not pay for their losses were sold into slavery. It is worth noting that both the rich and the poor played dice. Therefore, gambling increased. Thus, a poor man could get rich, and a rich man could become impoverished. And it all depended on just one case.
Playing cards
A little later, playing cards appeared in East Asia. Initially, they were made of wood, bamboo, or ivory and looked like oblong sheets with pictures. Then they began to draw them on paper. It is worth noting that in India the cards were round in shape, and in Japan, mussel shells were used as cards, which depicted everyday situations, scenes from poems, and seasons.
The first mention of playing cards in Europe dates back to the XIV century. The Arabs brought them here. Arabic cards resembled Tarot: they had 4 suits (Cups, Staffs, Swords, and Pentacles), among which there were 56 minor arcana and 22 senior trumps. Over time, both the number of cards and the concept of games have changed.
At all times there were those who loved and encouraged gambling and those who tried to impose a taboo on it. Religion has always sought to prohibit people from playing with luck because it considered it the tricks of the devil himself. It is worth noting that with the spread of gambling, cheaters began to appear, trying to deceive fans to take a chance.
In 1765, the first prototype of roulette appeared in France. Its author is police officer Gabriel de Sartin. He wanted to create a device on which it would be impossible to cheat. According to other sources, the first roulette was created by the French mathematician and philosopher Pascal, who tried to invent the perpetual motion machine.
The first casino
The word “casino” in Italian means “country house”. The idea of creating a place where fans of gambling could gather came to the mind of Prince Charles Grimaldi of the Principality of Monaco. So in 1863, the first casino was opened.
It is worth noting that already in 1895 the world’s first slot machine was invented, popularly called “one-armed bandit”. The invention belongs to the American mechanic Charles Fey. Currently, such slot machines are an integral part of any casino, especially online casinos, and are very popular ON Stakers.com.
At the beginning of the XX century, puritan America took the liberty to build a Las Vegas settlement in Nevada, where anyone could legally try their luck at roulette, play cards, or slot machines. It is worth noting that the state of Nevada is the only one in America where any gambling is allowed. Since then, Las Vegas has become a real-world gambling capital, in which billions of US dollars are spinning every day.
