3000 BCE
Earliest gambling appears in Mesopotamia through the use of six-sided dice
1000 BCE
Gambling houses appear in China, with common betting on animals
500 BCE
Reference to dice carved from sheep bones appears in an ancient poem from India called the Mahabharata
200
Ancient Romans gamble on chariot races and gladiator fights
900
Chinese regularly bet on games such as dominoes
1100
English knights return from Crusades and begin to breed stallions for racing, which becomes popular among noblemen
1377
First playing cards show up in Europe
1567
Queen Elizabeth I establishes the first lottery
1638
Puritans pass law prohibiting gambling under Idleness Statute, which outlaws possession of cards and dice in MA Bay Colony
1670s
Lotteries begin in American colonies to help finance the creation of schools, roads, and towns
1682
Quakers in Pennsylvania legally prohibit gambling
1774
Continental Congress discourages gambling of any kind, but organizes a $5MM three years later to finance the Revolutionary War
1806
Louisiana establishes prohibition against gambling, except in New Orleans. This leads to proliferation of gambling, since the city is the only place in the state gambling is legal.
1815
Louisiana licenses and taxes casinos, with proceeds going to charity
1832
The Palace of Fortune, the first casino in Washington, DC, opens with many politicians as regular customers
1855
When Mormon missionaries travel from Salt Lake City to the area that is now Las Vegas, they find Paiute Indians playing a roulette-like game in the sand, using bones and colored sticks
1858
Riverboat gambling becomes popular
1876
Wild Bill Hickok is shot and killed while playing poker in Deadwood in the Dakota Territory. His cards, aces and eights, come to be called “the dead man’s hand.”
1885
Coin-operated gambling machines begin to appear in US
1890
The Great Louisiana Lottery Scandal erupts when state corruption creates the inability to pay winners, leading to a nationwide call for the prohibition of lotteries
1906
First casino in Las Vegas opens its doors to the public
1908
Horse racing is banned except for 25 tracks in country; by 1910, only Maryland and Kentucky have legal horse racing
1915
As slot machines grow in popularity, they are camouflaged with “skill stops” which vend candy with every handle pull. The flavors or the candy become symbols on the machines — cherries, oranges, and plumbs
1930s
Many states allow Native American tribes to run casinos on reservation land
1931
To overcome the Great Depression, Nevada legalizes gambling as a way to bring economic relief
1940
The first major casino, El Rancho, is built in southern Nevada by Southern Californian Thomas Hull
1946
Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegal opens the Flamingo Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, connecting gambling and organized crime
1960s
Howard Hughes and other legitimate investors begin buying Las Vegas casinos, gradually reducing the Strip’s connections to organized crime
1964
New Hampshire becomes the first state to reintroduce a state lottery, resulting in gross receipts of $2.5 million.
1972
Montana allows low-limit gaming after 61% of voters approve a measure
1975
New York state reinstitutes a lottery, with 17 State lotteries in operation across US by 1983
1988
Florida institutes first legal state lottery in the southern US
1992
Congress passes the Professional and Amateur Sport Protection Act (PASPA), which prohibits all states (except Nevada) from offering sports betting
1993
35 state lotteries are in operation across the US; 38 states offer off track betting. 13 states have legalized casinos. 44 states have legal horse racing.
Late 90s
Online and internet gambling grow at an exponential pace
1996
Congress authorizes the National Gambling Impact Study Commission to investigate the extent and consequences (social and economic) of gambling
2006
The US Government passes the “Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act” to regulate online transactions
2011
The three largest online poker companies are indicted for fraud and money laundering. Subsequent legislation severely curbs online poker
2012
New Jersey allows sports betting
2018
US Supreme Court overturns PASPA, clearing the way to legal sports betting
2018
Draft Kings becomes the first online mobile sports betting app
2021
Experts estimate annual gambling volume of $53 billion dollars in the US, $7 billion on the Superbowl alone
2022
Virginia Delegate Sam Rasoul sponsors first state law in country requiring all public schools to teach students about the risks of gambling