The History of Gambling
By Donn Richard
December 07
Singapore
Gambling is one of the oldest and most loved pursuits of human beings. In fact our forefathers were proven enthusiasts in playing the games of chance based on dice or cards. Their obsession for gambling was such that they are believed to have risked a considerable amount of their wealth only for the sake of enjoying a gamble.
Dice-like objects were found dating back some 40,000 years. Cave paintings depicting gambling as well as ancient gambling artifacts have been found in Japan, India, China, Greece and Rome; and a pair of ivory dice made sometime before 1500 B.C. have been found in Egypt.
Gambling was extremely popular during the Middle Ages, however, some countries prohibited their soldiers from participating in the games because they devoted more time gambling than carrying out their military duties.
Around 900 A.D. gamers were shuffling paper money in China. This “paper shuffling?eventually evolved into card playing which spread to the Muslim Mameluke Empire. Cards back then, were not decorated with human shapes but instead they were decorated with intricate designs.
Many centuries later, when the card games were introduced in countries around the Mediterranean Sea, pictures of royal ranks were added. However, sometime in the 1500’s, the French took out one of the men and replaced it with a Queen. The deck of cards we know today, and the games of Blackjack and Poker are derived from that era.
The popular game of Roulette, literally translated from the French word "small wheel", was invented by Francois and Louis Blanc. It is, however, widely believed that French mathematician, Blaise Pascal created the wheel in the 17th century.
In the 18th century, the game of Roulette truly took off when prince Charles of Monaco decided that the wheel should be used as a method to control financial problems in the kingdom. How this was done at the time ?no one remembers exactly.
The game of Roulette was introduced to the US in the mid 18th century. Today, Roulette remains a popular game around the globe.
Dice which are known to have existed for thousands of years, helped take gambling into another level. Dice has popularized the game of craps, for example. Against popular belief, Craps originated in England, and was popular with the upper class in the 18th and 19th centuries. The game of Craps was later introduced in France and the US. In the US the game of Craps was simplified and played mainly on steamboats in the Louisiana rivers.
Betting on animals has also been popular throughout history, especially horse racing. In Singapore too, horse racing was and still is very popular.
The legality of gambling has waxed and waned over the centuries, with governments profiting from it at times and suppressing it at other times.
Singapore Gambling History. Read more...