History of Gambling and Modern Online Casinos
History of Gambling and Modern Online Casinos
The history of GAMBLING goes back to much beyond our imagination. It is believed that heaven, hell, and sea were split on the throw of a dice by Zeus, Poseidon and Hades. The fact collected by the Archeological department goes as far as saying that even the early cavemen were gamblers. Gambling is known to be one of the oldest activities in which the mankind was engaged. It's said that there are evidences dating back to prehistoric times which prove that gambling was prevalent in those times as well. Even cultures dominating the society in that era supported gambling in one or the other form. Historians strongly claim that there are facts and figures which support the fact that our predecessors were big enthusiasts in the field of gambling. Their passion in the game was to an extent that they staked substantial amount of wealth and property for the sake of enjoyment into gambling practices. At times when material wealth was not substantial in the game, our forefathers went ahead to the extent of staking themselves or any other family member for the pleasure of gambling. As rightfully said that fate has always ruled man's destiny and it goes a step forward when they are said to be engaged into practices like gambling.
GLOBAL EVIDENCES
When we go back into history and come to the actual facts and data collected about the topic, there are numerous supporting proofs to it.
It is found that approximately 40000 years back dice like objects were made from the ankle bone of a sheep and was known as Astragali. Historians have found many cave drawings which further prove the existence of gamblers in very early times. Even in the Pompeii ruins pairs of some dice like objects have been found, which were even artfully made to fall in certain ways.
Archeological data gives us information that around 2300B.C. the Chinese civilization invented a form of gambling using tiles. The Greek got involved in the dice games 1100 years later, although it is said that gambling was illegal in ancient Greece.
Around 1500 B.C. in Thebes (Egypt) a pair of dice made of ivory were said to be found, and in India, Japan, and Rome artifacts relating to gambling practices have been unearthed.
Native Americans in the New World went to the extent of believing that Gods had themselves invented gambling games or luck games, and is found that they practiced these games of dice with plum stones which were painted in black or white.
It was during the Revolutionary War that lotteries came into existence as another form of gambling. Washington took the initiative of buying the first national lottery ticket in 1793 which was sponsored for financing the improvement in the District of Columbia.
By the year 1830 the world saw more than 420 lotteries which offered prizes nationwide The popularity of lotteries as a form of gambling prevailed in the entire 18th and 19th centuries.
EVENTS
When it comes to the importance which gambling held in history we cannot take the same on a lighter note. Around 1000A.D, it's said that the King of Norway and Sweden came together to decide on the ownership of a district known as Hising by playing a game of dice, and agreeing that whosoever wins would be the undisputed owner of the district. Norway got the territory on winning in the luck game and it's said that as mutually agreed the two kings parted on good terms on the decision of the game.
Gambling became so popular in the ancient times that people got addicted to the game. Facts claim that during 14th century King Henry VIII had to ban gambling when he discovered that his soldiers were spending more time in playing chance games than in improving their skills for the battle field.
The Civil War reformation almost banned all the lotteries. This lead to considerable downsizing of gambling practices and other luck games. But this did not continue for long and when in the 1930's the various restrictions were eased up the legalized betting and horse racing came in vogue. Nevada legalized gambling again in 1931 the world saw opening up of casinos in huge numbers. After this various other states joined in to legalize the other various forms gambling and since then there's no looking back.
NEW AGE GAMBLING PRACTICES
What makes Gambling so attractive is the innate desire to be rich and prosperous overnight. This is the final driving force which is making people addicted to it. As the game gained legal form we saw gambling taking all new avatars. The current practices of gambling include slot machines, roulette, poker, blackjack, playing cards etc.
Las Vegas is the undisputed heaven for gambling lovers and a great hub for casinos. Las Vegas has its own history to becoming the most favored destination of gamblers around the globe. It's said to be an isolated valley but with relaxed government regulations in gambling and people gaining interest in the game of luck, within a small time it became the ruling destination of gamblers. So with the legalization of gambling the world finally saw mushrooming of casino centers around the world.
ONLINE GAMBLING
Gambling ONLINE is a very recent development to the already existing gambling options. It started in the 1990's when the Caribbean government legalized online gambling. This development led to further indulgence of people in gambling activities. Time and place barriers were swept off with this growth. Though online gambling is still illegal in many countries but big gambling houses and casinos carry on their business activity with impunity. Much of it happens because governments do not have power to interfere in the business activities of other countries.
WTO passed a ruling on Nov 10th ,2004 in favor of Caribbean government of which the outcome was that the Caribbean government can export gambling business to the US. Factually the first casino to go online was in the year 1994 and was empowered by the free trade processing zone act, and according to which the operation of casinos was allowed from Antigua, Barbuda. Cryptologic was the name of the first online gambling house, which started inventing software for the online gambling community. There were several other companies which gave its valuable contributions to the development of such software such as Starnet Communication and Microgaming.
At this point of time the gambling enthusiasts in America acted as catalysts into the entire process as the Internet facilities were easily available in the country.
As on date there are more than approximately 400 online casino websites around the globe like JackpotCity.com (the company that has sponsored this article for students of Delhi University) but many more contribute to the gambling activities illegally. Gambling today is not just a pleasure sport, rather it has turned out to be a multi billion dollar industry with it's growth increasing in manifolds every quarter.
