Casino licenses used to be licensed for pubs in the past. Playing with chance has always exerted a magical attraction on people. Gambling can be found in practically all cultures from ancient Greece to ancient China to the Aztecs. Gambling has always been further developed with the technology available. While your ancestors used dice-like animal bones to try their luck, online casinos such as Sesame casino are used in the 21st century.
The technology of chance
For a long time, the random process in the background and the appearance were directly linked. Until modern times, gambling was largely based on simple utensils and mechanisms, such as dice. With the onset of the Renaissance, access to technology and science was revolutionized, which also had an impact on gambling.
Mathematical insights such as probability calculation turned gaming into a science. Professional gaming operations were able to establish themselves. In many ways, the invention of professionally managed gambling mirrored the evolution of modern banking. It is therefore not surprising that gambling was revolutionized in early financial centers.
Technical achievements such as printing also made it possible to scale up gambling, for example by serially producing playing cards or lottery tickets. Later, advances in mechanics and electrification enabled the widespread use of “one-armed bandits”. Against this background, it is clear that the most recent digitization step is just another technological push.
More money or morals – or both?
New techniques gradually made it possible to better exploit the skimming potential. For example, the printing press contributed to the development of modern lotteries. Large lotteries have far greater financial potential than previous table games. No wonder they spread throughout Europe from the 15th century.
The now lavishly gushing gambling money was used to finance government spending, major projects, and charitable purposes. City walls, bridges, and royal weddings were financed with lottery winnings. The link to charity was particularly popular because it killed two birds with one stone. First, it relieved the state budget of charitable donations, and second, the link to charity helped to moralize gambling.
Even today, gambling flushes a lot of money into the state coffers. Not everything is for the best by a long shot.