Today, gambling, in a wide variety of different ways, is something that many people love and enjoy. On the other hand, there are also people out there who find it immoral and who hate it, but we all know those people just don’t understand the beauty, excitement, and fun of a good gambling game. No matter what one may think of gambling, however, it is not something that was just invented recently. Gambling in the USA has quite the long and interesting history, one that has led to the development of casinos is the USA and USA bookies who specialize in taking bets and making money.
Gambling in the USA got its start in the British American colonies. Back then, people felt mostly unsure about this new practice and its morality. It was not explicitly prohibited, but there were definitely some people who didn’t like it. Keep in mind there were no casinos in the USA. USA bookies did not exist at this time, just people sitting around playing cards. There were also lotteries until about 1769, when they were restricted.
Slowly, however, cards and gambling gained in popularity, particularly in the Mississippi River valley and in New Orleans, where actual gambling establishments were built. As gambling grew more popular, more and more people began to have strong negative feelings about it. This would eventually lead to it being outlawed and gambling was driven underground.
During the gold rush era, San Francisco became full of people searching for gold. Though none of them would find any, they didn’t all leave unhappy. That’s because San Francisco was able to take over where New Orleans left off and become a hotbed for illegal gambling.
The reconstruction era brought about a revival of sorts in terms of gambling, particularly in the south. However, it was still highly illegal and even developed its first connections to the Mafia. When the prohibition rolled around and illegal alcohol was added into the mix, even more people started gambling, even though they weren’t really supposed to.
It would take a bad turn—the stock market’s infamous crash in 1929 and other depressing events—to make gambling legal in Nevada. This was only done out of desperation, as a way for the state to start bringing in some income once again. There were still dissenters, and gambling went off and on from being allowed to being prosecutable. The struggle continued until 1977, when New Jersey also legalized gambling for Atlantic City. Indian Reservation based gambling soon followed, and the 90s brought about riverboat casinos in Louisiana, Illinois, and Detroit, Michigan. Today, we have online casinos and gambling, both legal and illegal, available at every turn.
