Gambling History
Gambling seems to be essential to human nature and traces of this activity can be found among the traces of most cultures long gone. The way we gamble today is not all that different from how they played games in ancient China or Egypt. It is mostly the tools that have developed into more smart and attractive. Along with the gambling comes the bans and regulation which are as prevalent today as ever. Throughout the history of gambling people, poor as well as rich, have found reasons to challenge others in various games.
Earliest Games
It’s hard to say exactly where the history of gambling begins. People all over the globe have been playing different forms of board games for over a thousand years. Even if we have archeological evidence of societies we might never find out just how and what they liked to play. Ancient China is said to have had a solid tradition of gambling and many of our modern day games are said to have their origin there. Excavations of pyramids in Giza revealed tablets which spoke about gambling. Ancient dice have also been found in Egypt.
The Card Deck
The introduction of the card deck opened up for many of the games that we still enjoy today. Blackjack, poker and other classics have been around in various forms for hundreds of years. While the basic plot of these games has stayed they haven’t always been played with cards. The card deck we are used to is called the French card deck. This is because of the layout of the Knight, Dame and King which was finalized by the French. Since paper was invented in China it is believed that this is where the first card decks where created. The reason that the card deck is built on numbers and not symbols is believe to be the Muslim Mameluke empire where human images where forbidden.
Gambling Bans and Prohibitions
Through findings of the tools for games such as gaming boards and dice we know that most civilizations had gambling traditions. Another indication of gambling being presents is the bans and prohibitions against it. King Henry the VIII of England banned gambling all together when it became known to him that his soldiers were busy with it. He felt that they spent too much time on the games and redirected their minds to his service by a prohibition. In more recent history of gambling we are only too aware of bans and prohibitions. Leaders of the world like the USA have made life sour for many by outlawing gambling online.
Reasons for Gambling
The history of gambling shows that the reason for gambling was not always to have fun and relax a bit. Just like today people have always been interested in winning money through games but even greater prospects have been achieved through the turn of the dice. When two ancient kings of Sweden and Norway tried to reach a settlement regarding some land they turned to gambling. By using dice Norway won the territory in question and the kings settled the matter peacefully.
