The Chinese were first to have an official record of gambling practices dating 2300BC. Gambling can be traced to the ancient civilization of Greeks, Romans to the France Under the rule of Napoleon and even Elizabeth’s England. Entertainment based on chance was the preferred past time in these civilizations.

The first gambling house known to have existed in Europe was Ridotto, which was established in the city of Venice of Italy in the year 1638 with an aim to control the gambling streak during the carnival. It was closed a century later as the government census revealed the casino as reason for poverty of the locals.

In America the gambling houses in the early stages were called Saloons. These saloons were first introduced in cities of Chicago, New Orleans, San Francisco and St. Louis. The travelers in these cities went to saloons to look for drinks and a conversation with the local population and often gambled too. By the advent of 20^th century the American government banned gambling as was proposed by social reformers and the state legislation. But 1931 saw resurrection of gambling business as Nevada, a state of US legalized gambling. Soon to follow were the states of Reno and the famous Las Vegas.

Gambling is legal only for individuals above the age when they can obtain a license, usually between 16-21 years of age. Customers gamble while playing certain chance based games like blackjack, poker, craps and baccarat. These games have certain calculated mathematical odds which ensure that the casino never loses money in loss. The house generally takes a commission on all dealing of the players, called rake. Most casinos in US state that any player who stakes and wins money is actually playing with the money of the casino.