History of the first casino in the world. How does it start?

Casinos are venues for entertainment, wagering, and socializing, but how did they come to be?

00:32 07 April 2023

Casinos are venues for entertainment, wagering, and socializing, but how did they come to be? The origin story of the first casino in the world is a tale of power, wealth, and gambling that dates back centuries.

Despite the fact that the word "casino" originates from the Italian word "casa," which means "house," the first casinos were actually founded in France. The French aristocracy established exclusive clubs where they could gather, gamble, and socialize in the 17th century. The forerunners of contemporary casinos were these clubs, known as "salons.".

In the 1760s, the Belgian town of Spa saw the establishment of one of the first and most well-known salons. The town was well-known for its natural springs, which were thought to have therapeutic qualities and drew in a lot of affluent tourists. The salon in Spa served as a gathering place for the nobility to play dog house demo, cards and mingle while taking advantage of the spa's amenities. Due to the salon's enormous success, the name "the Spas" stuck and quickly spread throughout the town.

But in 1638, Venice, Italy, opened the world's first casino. The Venetian government built the "Il Ridotto" casino to offer a regulated gambling environment during the carnival season. The government was concerned about the amount of illegal gambling that was occurring during the carnival, which was a time of excess and revelry. The casino, which was housed in a wing of the opulent Palazzo Dandolo, quickly gained popularity among both locals and tourists.

The first casino to offer games of chance like roulette and baccarat was Il Ridotto. The casino was a smashing success and generated a lot of money for the Venetian government. The casino was shut down in 1774 due to complaints that it was a haven for vice and immorality.

Following Il Ridotto's closure, casinos popped up all over Europe. The German spa town of Baden-Baden rose to fame in the 19th century for drawing the affluent of Europe to its casinos. The casino in Monte Carlo, which opened its doors in the middle of the 19th century, is arguably the most renowned casino in the entire world. Prince Charles III of Monaco commissioned its construction in an effort to boost the struggling principality's economy by luring tourists there.

Charles Garnier, a French architect who also designed the Paris Opera House, created the casino in Monte Carlo. Chandeliers, frescoes, and sculptures adorned the grand structure where the casino was housed, which had a view of the Mediterranean Sea. The casino attracted wealthy businessmen, royalty, and celebrities from around the world as it quickly rose to fame as a symbol of opulence and glamour.

A brand-new gambling game called roulette was also launched in the Monte Carlo casino. The game of roulette was created in France in the 18th century, but Monte Carlo's casino is credited with making it popular. The world's most-played casino game, roulette, quickly rose to prominence and is still played today.

Although it was illegal to gamble in the United States for the majority of the 20th century, casinos were still built. Las Vegas was a small town in the desert at the beginning of the 20th century, but it quickly developed into a center for gambling. In the 1940s and 1950s, organized crime groups opened the city's first casinos, which they owned. But when Nevada started licensing and regulating casinos in the 1960s, they started to operate as legal enterprises.

Casinos can be found all over the world today, from the glitzy casinos of Las Vegas to the understated casinos of small towns. The sector has expanded into a multi-billion dollar business.