No one knows exactly when gambling began, but the first written record of it dates to 2300 B.C. in China and to 2000 B.C. in Egypt. It is believed that some sort of gambling has existed in every society ever since.

Gambling was so popular in the Roman Empire that one emperor instated a rule that every child had to be taught to throw dice and gamble. He even had his carriage specially designed for dice games.

Gambling with cards became popular among civilizations throughout European society. It is believed that playing cards were invented in France in 1360 and Gutenberg is credited with printing the first full deck in Germany in 1440.

Throughout Europe and America countries have wavered between periods of encouraging and repressing gambling in many forms. Generally, when the government needs revenues a greater tolerance for gambling emerges.

The first casinos in the United States were in New England. Here card games and other types of gambling were considered every day, mundane activities. After the Civil War, the Southern states instituted state lotteries in an attempt to rebuild state treasuries. At this same time, exploration of the frontier was taking place and here gambling became popular more as recreation than as a way to provide governmental revenues. As people poured westward, the dominant industries in many towns were saloons and casinos. Casino popularity also developed in steamboats, many of which were based in Mississippi. Eventually, Louisiana became the center of gambling in the United States.

As the states developed and became more economically secure, people began to favor governmental actions to eliminate gambling. This encouraged professional gamblers to move westward where the rules were less fixed. Gambling remained legal for a longer time period in the west, and Nevada was the first western state to ban gambling in 1910. Because of the popularity of gambling in the west, though, it simply became an underground pastime.

The modern stage of gambling began in the 1930’s when Nevada passed the bill to legalize gambling (it was passed because of the popularity of gambling and because states needed money after the Depression).

The first casino operations that attracted large clienteles were opened in the late 1930’s. At first all the big gaming locations were in Reno, but in the 1940’s businesses began to open in Las Vegas.

Casino development in New Jersey didn’t begin until the 1970’s when casino gambling was made legal in Atlantic City.