A few things about gambling

23 July 2016

By John Marchel

Gambling is the wagering of money or something of value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods.

Gambling thus requires three elements be present: consideration, chance and prize. The outcome of the wager is often immediate, such as a single roll of dice or a spin of a roulette wheel, but longer time frames are also common such as allowing wagers on the outcome of a future sports contest or even an entire sports season.

The history of gambling goes back a very long time.

There are records of gambling activities dating back to the very beginning of documented human history. People had already been gambling for thousands of years when the ancient Greeks were betting on wrestling matches during the Olympic Games of 776 BC.

Mankind was gambling on things for thousands of years everywhere around the world. Betting on events, like battles or gladiator matches, is likely the oldest form of gambling.


BET YOU DIDN'T KNOW

• All 13 original colonies established lotteries, usually more than one, to raise needed revenue. Those proceeds helped establish some of the nation’s earliest and most prestigious universities. They included; Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Dartmouth, Princeton and William & Mary. Lottery funds were also used to build churches and libraries. Ben Franklin, John Hancock and George Washington were prominent sponsors of specific lotteries for public works projects.

• A Japanese company, Iriso Seimetsu, is now marketing the most expensive dice in the world. These dice are six-sided and are smaller than the lead from a pencil, which makes them the smallest dice in the world. The dice cost approximately $880.00.

• At one time it was the custom in some European countries, as well as in Korea, to deal the cards from the bottom of the deck. It seems it was a holdover from when crudely printed cards could be read too easily from their worn backs. Dealing was also to the right since it was easier when dealing from the bottom.

• When one adds up the number of letters that are used for the names of playing cards; ace (3), two (3), three (5), four (4), five (4), six (3), seven (5), eight (5), nine (4), ten (3), jack (4), queen (5), king (4), the total number comes to 52. That is the same number in a standard deck of playing cards.

• The first licensed “gaming” casino was the Ridotto in Venice, Italy in 1638. The Doze decreed the casino could open and therefore it would give employment to “né-er-do-well” aristocrats and get them off the public roles.

• At one time it was the custom in some European countries, as well as in Korea, to deal the cards from the bottom of the deck. It seems it was a holdover from when crudely printed cards could be read too easily from their worn backs. Dealing was also to the right since it was easier when dealing from the bottom.

• A rough estimate of the amount of money legally wagered annually in the world today is about $10 trillion. Lotteries are the leading form of gambling worldwide.