Gambling is one of the most top-earning activities around the world today. Its increasingly sophisticated games and facilities could make us think that betting houses and everything related to them are a modern creation. We couldn’t be more wrong.
The earliest documented evidence of gambling is lottery betting lists and dates back to 2300 BC China.
The first online casino was created in 1996. Microgaming developed a technology capable of shielding Internet transactions. In this way InterCasino was created, based in Antigua, and which only had 18 games at the time of its launch.
The first decks of cards are believed to have been created in China in 800 AD Thank you, Chinese friends!
Do you know what is the first casino game created that is still played today? Baccarat! It emerged in Italy and France in the 15th century.
Silly Laws About Gambling
But the laws can’t be dumb, can they? They are rules created by serious people in suits. Well, maybe the following data will open your eyes a bit and you will also have a laugh.
- Gambling in bookstores is prohibited in the UK. Yes, how you hear it. How do they know if you find yourself gambling in a bookstore? No idea, but just in case, focus on your book and forget about the casino for a bit.
- In the US, more specifically in Oklahoma, women can be arrested if they gamble naked, in their underwear or wearing only a towel. We do not know what must have happened years ago for the state government to have had to create this law, but it must be interesting.
- In Canada it is illegal to play dice, so citizens have been forced to create their own version of the game, but using cards. There is nothing or nobody that stops a player with some money to bet and a lot of desire to play. Canadian government checkmate.
- In Thailand it is illegal to possess more than 120 playing cards. We assume that the police will go house to house registering and counting the letters of all citizens. They definitely earn their pay.
- Monte Carlo, in the principality of Monaco, has one of the most important casinos in the world. However, the inhabitants of Monaco are prohibited from entering the casino. Unfair, right? Well, at least, thanks to the income of foreign players, locals don’t need to pay income taxes. It doesn’t sound so bad anymore, does it?
Other interesting facts
We might think that the largest casino is in the gaming mecca, Las Vegas. However, the largest casino in the world is, of course, in China. It is the Sands Casino in Macau, with a total of 64,000 square meters, 740 tables and 1,254 slot machines.
The casino considered the most beautiful in the world is the Casino Baden-Baden in Germany. It was inaugurated in 1809, thus being one of the oldest casinos in the world. Its interior is full of wonderful fountains and its ceilings remind us of the Sistine Chapel. The highest casino in the world is the Stratosphere Las Vegas Hotel and Casino. Its game rooms are located at 1149 meters high. Someone suffering from vertigo in the room?