Caravaggio, The Cardsharps , c. 1594. Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods. Typically, the outcome of the wager is evident within a short period.
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History
Religious
Religious perspectives on gambling have been mixed. Both the Catholic and Jewish traditions have even set aside days for gambling,[5] (for Jews Hanukkah), although religious
authorities generally disapprove of gambling. Ancient Jewish
authorities frowned on gambling, even disqualifying professional
gamblers from testifying in court.[6] Gambling has often been seen as having social consequences. For these social and religious reasons, most legal jurisdictions limit gambling.[citation needed] Some Islamic nations prohibit gambling; most other countries regulate it.[7]
Origins
Many popular games played in modern casinos originate from Europe and China. Games such as craps, baccarat, roulette, and blackjack originate from different areas of Europe. A version of keno, an ancient Chinese lottery game, is played in casinos around the world. In addition, pai gow poker, a hybrid between pai gow and poker is also played.[8]
Regulation
Many jurisdictions, local as well as national, either ban or heavily
control (by licensing) gambling. Such regulation generally leads to gambling tourism
and illegal gambling in the areas where it is not allowed. The
involvement of governments, through regulation and taxation, has led to a
close connection between many governments and gaming organizations,
where legal gambling provides significant government revenue, such as in
Monaco or Macau.
United States
Under US federal law, gambling is legal in the United States, and states are free to regulate or prohibit the practice. Gambling has been legal in Nevada since 1931, forming the backbone of the state's economy, and the city of Las Vegas is perhaps the best known gambling destination in the world. In 1976, gambling was legalized in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and in 1990, it was legalized in Tunica, Mississippi; both of those cities have developed extensive casino and resort areas since then. Since a favorable U.S. Supreme Court decision in 1987, many Native American tribes have built their own casinos
on tribal lands as a way to provide revenue for the tribe. Because the
tribes are considered sovereign nations, they are often exempt from
state laws restricting gambling, and are instead regulated under federal law. Additionally, almost all states have legalized gambling in the form of a state-run lottery and most states allow for limited non-profit organizations to host Bingo nights.
Insurance
Because contracts of insurance
have many features in common with wagers, insurance contracts are often
distinguished under law as agreements in which either party has an
interest in the "bet-upon" outcome beyond the specific financial terms. E.g.: a "bet” with an insurer on whether one's house will burn down is not gambling, but rather insurance — as the homeowner has an obvious interest in the continued existence of his/her home independent of the purely financial aspects of the "bet" (i.e., the insurance policy). Nonetheless, both insurance and gambling contracts are typically considered aleatory contracts under most legal systems, though they are subject to different types of regulation.
There is generally legislation requiring that the odds in gaming devices are statistically random, to prevent manufacturers from making some high-payoff results impossible. Since these high-payoffs have very low probability, a house bias can quite easily be missed unless checking the odds carefully.[9] Types of gambling
Casino games
While almost any game can be played for money, and any game typically
played for money can also be played just for fun, some games are
generally offered in a casino setting.
Table games
Electronic gaming
Other gambling
Non-casino gambling games
Gambling games that take place outside of casinos include Bingo (as played in the US and UK), dead pool, lotteries, pull-tab games and scratchcards, and Mahjong.
Other non-casino gambling games include:
- Card games, such as Liar's poker, Bridge, Basset, Lansquenet, Piquet, Put, Teen patti
- Carnival Games such as The Razzle or Hanky Pank
- Coin-tossing games such as Head and Tail, Two-up*
- Confidence tricks such as Three-card Monte or the Shell game
- Dice-based games, such as Backgammon, Liar's dice, Passe-dix, Hazard, Threes, Pig, or Mexico
*Although coin tossing isn't usually played in a casino, it has been
known to be an official gambling game in some Australian casinos[10]
Fixed-odds betting
Fixed-odds betting and Parimutuel betting frequently occur at many types of sporting events, and political elections. In addition many bookmakers offer fixed odds on a number of non-sports related outcomes, for example the direction and extent of movement of various financial indices, the winner of television competitions such as Big Brother, and election results.[11] Interactive prediction markets also offer trading on these outcomes, with "shares" of results trading on an open market.
Parimutuel betting
One of the most widespread forms of gambling involves betting on horse or greyhound racing. Wagering may take place through parimutuel pools, or bookmakers
may take bets personally. Parimutuel wagers pay off at prices
determined by support in the wagering pools, while bookmakers pay off
either at the odds offered at the time of accepting the bet; or at the
median odds offered by track bookmakers at the time the race started.
Sports betting
Main article: Sports bettingBetting on team sports has become an important service industry in many countries. For example, millions of Britons play the football pools
every week. In addition to organized sports betting, both legal and
illegal, there are many side-betting games played by casual groups of
spectators, such as NCAA Basketball Tournament Bracket Pools, Super Bowl Squares, Fantasy Sports Leagues with monetary entry fees and winnings, and in-person spectator games like Moundball.
Arbitrage betting
Arbitrage betting is a theoretically risk-free betting system in
which every outcome of an event is bet upon so that a known profit will
be made by the bettor upon completion of the event, regardless of the
outcome. Arbitrage betting is a combination of the ancient art of arbitrage
trading and gambling, which has been made possible by the large numbers
of bookmakers in the marketplace, creating occasional opportunities for
arbitrage.
Other types of betting
One can also bet with another person that a statement is true or
false, or that a specified event will happen (a "back bet") or will not
happen (a "lay bet") within a specified time. This occurs in particular
when two people have opposing but strongly held views on truth or
events. Not only do the parties hope to gain from the bet, they place
the bet also to demonstrate their certainty about the issue. Some means
of determining the issue at stake must exist. Sometimes the amount bet
remains nominal, demonstrating the outcome as one of principle rather
than of financial importance.
Betting exchanges
allow consumers to both back and lay at odds of their choice. Similar
in some ways to a stock exchange, a bettor may want to back a horse
(hoping it will win) or lay a horse (hoping it will lose, effectively
acting as bookmaker)
Staking systems
Many betting systems have been created in an attempt to "beat the
bookie" but most still accept that no system can make an unprofitable
bet profitable over time. Widely used systems include:
- Card counting - Many systems exist for Blackjack
to keep track of the ratio of ten values to all others; when this ratio
is high the player has an advantage and should increase the amount of
their bets. Keeping track of cards dealt confers an advantage in other
games as well.
- Due-column betting
– A variation on fixed profits betting in which the bettor sets a
target profit and then calculates a bet size that will make this profit,
adding any losses to the target.
- Fixed profits – the stakes vary based on the odds to ensure the same profit from each winning selection.
- Fixed stakes – a traditional system of staking the same amount on each selection.
- Kelly – the optimum level to bet to maximize your future median bank level.
- Martingale – A system based on staking enough each time to recover losses from previous bet(s) until one wins.
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