These gambling legends serve as evidence that even brilliant minds can have an appetite for cards and roulette wheels. Sometimes their reputation was at stake when entering casinos; yet somehow they managed to stay afloat thanks to daring, enterprising alter egos.
Gambling was popular in frontier towns, which attracted prospectors from all over the country. Gamblers ranged from honest businessmen and hustlers to con artists operating confidence games or scams.
Origins
Gambling’s history dates back millennia. As one of humanity’s oldest activities, it remains an integral part of almost every culture around the globe. Anthropologists have found that humans have long held an interest in chance, evidenced by several Biblical references regarding casting lots or ancient Roman practices such as casting knucklebones to divide property and determine their futures.
Dice games were widely played throughout Mesopotamia, Egypt and Greece during ancient civilisations; board games of chance were also prevalent. Gamblers in medieval Europe were subject to legislation; those caught engaging in gambling faced severe punishment.
Cards gave rise to casinos both in Europe and America. Riverboat gambling became widely popular along the Mississippi River during the 1800s before Las Vegas emerged as a casino capital in later decades. Today, online gambling is an enormous multibillion-dollar industry; athletes may develop gambling problems more readily due to intense competitiveness; this is especially true of elite competitors prone to risking all their funds on one play.
Games of chance
Games of chance refers to any gambling game which depends more heavily on luck than skill, such as lottery tickets and scratch-off games. They often spark debate as many consider them addictive and risky forms of entertainment.
Gambling has long been part of human culture, dating back to early man. Early games included knucklebones, dice and cards; later in history blackjack evolved from French game called vingt-et-un in 17th Century France before eventually coming over with French settlers and becoming one of the most widely played casino games today.
Gambling is a popular pastime among athletes, who tend to be highly competitive. Unfortunately, gambling addiction can be detrimental to an athlete’s career and could even cost him his job if caught betting illegal sports. Luckily, however, some athletes have discovered ways to overcome their gambling dependency.
Frontier gamblers
Even though many romanticize the Wild West, its frontier was often marred by violence and lawlessness. While its legacy still lingers today, there are ways to overcome it and move toward a brighter future: advocating gun control measures, environmental conservation policies and anti-racism efforts as well as supporting healthy masculinity initiatives to combat sexual assault or rape cases.
Through history, men and women who gambled on the frontier made a living from gambling in musty saloons of the West. These individuals became known as professional gamblers, wearing expensive black suits with ornate jewelry to show their status as professional bettors.
When they won big, they would either bank their money or carry it with them. When banked at a gambling saloon, their winnings were stored safely instead of hidden away under mattresses or pillows.
Casinos
One of the great ironies of history is that some of history’s brightest minds often indulge their love for gambling at night. Though these brilliant individuals may be great artists, politicians or scientists by day, when nightfall arrives their more daring, daring, enterprising alter egos come out to play and show themselves to be bold risk takers!
The new Casino Edition updates and expands on the global story of gambling, providing better insight into Atlantic City casinos within their proper context; chronicling Las Vegas Strip development through revised and expanded sections; explaining online gaming’s rise; as well as providing material on how it has affected casino business operations. A final chapter also looks into some of the worst gambling addiction stories; such as Denise and David who lost everything when their life savings ended up in prison but found strength to carry on, living off pensions today while helping others overcome addictions themselves.