History of Casinos in the Europe and America

It is not too much of an exaggeration to say that gambling is almost as old as humanity itself. Archaeological findings confirm that as far back as 40,000 years ago, our ancestors were playing a game similar to craps. In China, around 2,500 BC, a game that was a precursor to today’s cards was played. Gambling attracted citizens of all the great ancient civilizations from Rome, Greece, Egypt, India, and aforementioned China.

An ancestor of backgammon originated in ancient Mesopotamia, and it was it became the most popular European game of the Middle Ages. In this board game, the player’s goal is to get his stones to his opponent’s side. He uses dice rolls to move them. Backgammon is still played in a modified form today, but it is no longer a game of chance.

In today’s article, we will look at the history of modern casinos. From the very first casino in Italy to modern ways of betting such as virtual or bitcoin casinos.

The first casinos in Italy and Europe

Initially, gambling was played outdoors in the street, at home, or in clubs, with individuals betting against each other. Today, most of the gambling activities happened inside, where you play against the house, as they say. In Italian, a house is called a “casa”, hence the word “casino” used today.

It was in Italy where the first casinos began to appear. The difference is that the first casinos were closely linked to the baths. it was a place where the upper classes generally met. People came here to relax and play.

The oldest casino is considered to be the Casino di Venezia, which was built in 1509. However, it wasn’t transformed into a casino until 1638 and is still in operation today. It was a milestone in casino history. From this point on, casinos began to occur not only in Italy but also in France, Belgium, Germany, Great Britain, and other European cities.

As colonization spread, gambling began to penetrate the New World. Native Americans, however, were familiar with gambling long before the arrival of European colonizers. As a result of later religious and social changes, gambling fell out of favor, leading to its classification as a criminal act. Gradually, gambling was legalized in Nevada, where the mecca of gambling today, the city of Las Vegas, and New Jersey, with its casino paradise based in Atlantic City, gradually grew up.

The beginnings of online casinos

With the invention of the internet, came the first online casinos. But, in the beginning, legislative limitations still stood in their way. Gambling was banned or at least limited in most states. Therefore, to operate an online casino, it had to obtain a license. Another historic milestone was therefore reached in 1994 when the small island state of Antigua and Barbuda established a free trade and manufacturing zone, where gambling licenses issuing were allowed.

The first casino software companies were formed that same year. The first of these is the well-known Microgaming company, whose games can still be played in online casinos today. The first-ever online casino is created in 1996 and is called InterCasino. A rapid boom in online betting that continued until 2006 followed this.

In 2006, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act was passed in the US, which banned all forms of online gambling on US soil. In the ensuing sequence, other countries around the world began to regulate it as well. The way it currently works is that for a casino to operate in a given, it must have the appropriate license. Some of the most well-known licensors include the UK Gambling Commission, Malta Gaming Authority, and Curacao eGaming.

New trends in online gambling

Online casinos are not the only cutting-edge form of casinos, however. The emergence of live casinos in 2004 is also worth mentioning. Software provider Playtech was the first to come up with them. The latter in the year began to offer live baccarat for some part of the day. At first, however, it looked like Live casinos were not going to be a success. For online casinos, it meant high operating costs. Moreover, there was not much interest in live casinos from players. However, it changed over the following decades and today’s online casinos feature hundreds of live table games.

After 2000, mobile casinos also started emerging. Specifically in 2005, when the first mobile casino software was created. Back then, it was still very limited. It was because it was not possible to play for real money in a downloadable app. However, as modern technology evolved, mobile casinos shifted as well. The essential for mobile apps was the invention of Android or iOS operating systems. Over time, however, downloadable apps began to dwindle, but instead, you can now play on a modified website using HTML5.

This slowly brings us to the present day. The most modern form of online betting is the so-called crypto casinos. These are casinos where you can play with virtual currencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, or Litecoin. In 2008, the most famous cryptocurrency Bitcoin was created, which would later dominate the cryptocurrency market. The first crypto casinos emerge in 2012 and 2013. There are several types of these casinos. It can be classic online casino that only support deposits and withdrawals in virtual currencies. But they can also be so-called anonymous casinos, in which it is not necessary to go through the KYC process. Thanks to Blockchain technology, payments are not documented in any central registry and players can play truly anonymously. And what will be the future of casinos? At the moment, so-called virtual casinos are the most frequently mentioned. Virtual reality is the latest technology that has been adopted by software developers around the world. It is, therefore, logical to assume that online casinos will not be left behind. Given the possibilities of virtual reality, this technology could change the betting experience. Imagine hopping off to play roulette on a spaceship or sitting down at a poker table in the wild west. However, a significant obstacle at the moment is the cost and availability of virtual glasses and other accessories that players have to buy.