→ History of Casinos

The beginnings of gambling are unknown, although the Chinese are often credited with the first known account. The act of gambling predates the building offormal casinos by many centuries. The word casino is Italian in origin and actually means bordello, while casino' with an accent on the last syllable means gambling house. The first modern casino was built in "··/enice, Italy in the early 17th century. In early American history, gambling was conducted in saloons in such frontier towns as New Orleans and San Francisco, as well as river boats on the Mississippi River.

As popularity of gambling increased, casinos began cropping up in all major metropolitan cities and continued to flourish in the western frontier. By the end ofthe 19th century there were thousands of casinos in New York City alone. But with the popularity of gambling houses came cheaters, hustlers, and thieves trying to cash in on the money changing hands. When the prohibitionists became vocal in the early 2Uth century, alcohol was not their only target. Within a couple of decades, casinos became illegal almost every where in the country, and when the western frontier states were added to the Union, they had to give up gambling as well.