The Evolution of Casinos

The Evolution of Casinos

There is evidence, to at least suggest, that the art of gambling in one shape or another has been going on since the dawn of the civilisation of Humankind.

From the simple act of betting on who would roll the highest number in the roll of a dice, to choosing who would be the winner, or survivor, in the gladiator’s ring, we have been placing bets both for fun and for monitory return for thousands of years!

So, when did casinos come into play?

Well, despite the very real, and very illegal, gambling dens and halls which were clearly present before this time, there was no documented, legally designated, gaming location, or “casino” until 1638. It was called the “Casino di Venezia”, and it was in Venice.

Originally opened by the area’s local council, in a bid to create organised and trouble-free gambling during carnival season, the casino still stands to this day, beside one of the city’s more evocative canals.

Though the word “casino” its self wasn’t coined until the late 18th century, it didn’t take long after the “Casino di Venezia” was launched before there was a boom in the appearance of gaming buildings, both on mainland Europe and, to a lesser degree, further afield.

Places like Wiesbaden and Baden-Baden in Germany, as well as areas like the ever-glamorous Monte Carlo, started to build extravagant, palace like “casinos” for the elite gamblers of that time.

Sweden and the other Nordic countries also have a fairly long history in gambling, indeed, it is even said that King Olaf of Sweden, once met with his Norwegian counterpart and that they came to a solution on a particularly tricky territorial dispute by having a game of dice.

Despite this rich history, the industry wasn’t allowed to develop freely, and until fairly recently a number of quite heavy restrictions were in place to regulate and control everything.

Luckily for enthusiastic Scandinavian players things are changing fast and they now have the same opportunities to play, enjoy themselves and maybe even hit that big win as players do today in other parts of the world. There are now loads of casinos such as Casino Bonusar, Slotskia, JohnSlots and many more that open up the exciting world on online gaming.

Though things on the other side of the pond, in the United States, are very different today and gambling is big business and big news, they faced a lot of the same restrictions and legal issues as the Nordic countries did in the beginning.

This meant that things initially moved much more slowly, and it wasn’t until the creation of Las Vegas back in 1905 that “casinos” became a recognised place at which to spend your leisure time.

The first legitimate casino in the city was “The Golden Gate” but it wasn't until 1941 that the first all-singing all-dancing resort was built.

The first real, big casino resort “El Rancho Vegas” which had swimming pools, horse riding facilities and yes you guessed it - casino games, was a totally new and fully immersive experience for everyone who graced them with their presence.

Vegas Strip’s 1st casino had a grand total of two Blackjack tables, a Craps table, one Roulette wheel and around 70 Slot Machines for gamers to play on.

Modern bricks and mortar casinos, have popped up all over the World since then, and, grown exponentially in terms of actual physical size and in diversity and availability of casino games and indeed the now MASSIVE amounts of Prize Money which you could potentially win! Of course playing comes with its highs and lows ? crippling losses and mammoth wins. If you are thinking about playing, why not read up about 6 tips to walk away from happy slots.

The Online Casino

The jump into the world of Online Casinos was made by Microgaming back in 1994, which, in internet terms might as well have been the stone age!

Microgaming, are now widely considered to be “the pioneers of online gambling” and are now one of the largest casino and slot game developers in the world!

Within five years, online gaming went from naught to being worth over a billion dollars!

Today, of course, online gaming is a multibillion dollar industry, with well over a thousand online casinos already in the running and many more appearing almost by the day!

Playtech then introduced the first live dealer casinos in 2003, this has meant that the link between virtual casinos and the bricks and mortar casinos of old has become good and strong.

It is now possible to have an awesome online casino gaming experience, which very closely emulates that which you used to only be able to have “on site” but from the comfort of your own home!

Indeed, whereas once it was only for the very wealthy, and, even they would inevitably be forced to wait in line to play on their favourite games, the emergence of online casino gaming has opened up the doors for players of all walks of life to be able to play and enjoy this wonderful and exciting past time!

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