Fascinating games of chance

by Ibitsam Isaac

The earliest games of chance were actually fortune telling rituals. The primitive dice made of fruit stones, pebbles and knuckle bones of pigs, sheep and cows would be thrown into the air in a divination ritual by shaman or fortune teller and the way they fell would be interpreted as the voice of gods. A question would be put to the gods, the dice thrown into the air and the way they came down would be interpreted as the divine voice. These were the very earliest games of chance because even then some enterprising individuals would put a line and have a bet on what the answer of gods would be.

By 1300 BC the dice had acquired the smooth cube shape and dots familiar today. The dice use dots for a simple reason; they predate numbers. Evidence found in Egyptian tombs suggest that civilisation used the dice as early as 2000 BC the Dice found in the pre-historic site of Mohenjo Daro in what is now Pakistan date to the Indus valley culture which thrived about 2500 and 1700 BC. Roman Emperors notoriously played and gambled compulsively. Dice games were popular in Europe when French academics taught them to their students. In England Richard the Lion Heart and king John both gambled with dice and king Henry the eighth lost the bells of St. Paul's church on a single throw.

Games of chance always held a fascination over humans, be it the ancient Chinese, Arabs, Greeks or Romans. Gambling did not originate in any one place but was one way or another spurred in almost all corners of the earth. It is one of the earliest forms of entertainment that has ever taken place in human history. Evidence points to the earliest forms of gambling taking place in China back around 2300 BC.

Gambling

In 200 BC, when China was not yet a country ruled by a strong central government, a feudal lord started the lottery type game Keno to find money to pay his army. Much like in today's society gambling became a problem that had to be dealt with in the middle ages. Countries were forced to ban gambling for their soldiers because they were so wrapped up in gambling they could not carry out their duties. European history is riddled with edicts, decrees and encyclicals banning and condemning gambling which indirectly testify to its popularity in all strata of society.

China is thought to be the origin of playing cards. The Chinese developed paper, which led them to developing paper money. Once the two were put together playing cards were invented. The Chinese learned how to schuffle paper money, and many believe that is where the practice of schuffling cards came from. Card playing was brought to Europe by the mamluks- slave warriors of medieval Islam who overthrew their masters, defeated the Mongols and the crusaders and established a dynasty that lasted 300 years. Being followers of Islam they did not decorate their cards with human forms; instead they used geometric designs. Once the cards reached the Mediterranean countries the cards were made to be distinguished by the ranks of nobleman. The French then altered the deck of cards by pulling out one of the men and adding a queen. The pack of cards as we know it today has pictures of leaders – kings, queens and knaves. Kings in a standard deck of cards represent real people. King Charlemagne is depicted as the king of hearts, Julius Caesar is represented by the king of diamonds, Alexander the great is represented by the king of clubs and king David of the Bible as king of spades.

Organised gambling on a large scale and sanctioned by government and other authorities to raise money began in the 15th century. The first government owned gambling house in Europe known simply as Ridotto was housed at the palace owned by a Venetian nobleman, a descendant of the leader of the 4th crusade. At the ridotto aristocrats, prostitutes, pimps, usurers, degenerate gamblers and foreign visitors rubbed shoulders. All wore face masks to protect their identity. In addition to gambling a room called the “chamber of sighs” provided a place for sexual liaisons. By the mid 16th century numerous private gambling houses were operating and spread to other cities such as Monaco, Paris, Rome, Vienna and Moscow. European high society met in the so-called little houses to indulge in everything from business dealings and politics to gambling and more carnival pleasures. Towards the end of the century, many of these ridotto or little house had changed from places where individuals bet against each other to establishments where bettors played against the house, the method in use in present day casinos. With the advent of legal gambling houses in the 17th century mathematicians began to take serious interest in games involving randomising equipment such as dice and cards, and out of this grew the field of “probability theory.”

Sports

Apart from the forerunners in ancient Rome and Greece organised sanctioned sports betting dates back to the 18th century. About that time there began a gradual shift in the official attitude towards gambling, from considering it a sin to a vice and a human weakness, and finally seeing it as a harmless and even entertaining activity. Games of chance evolved over many centuries, changing along with civilisation. Gambling and gamblers have left their footprints throughout history in curious, sometimes surprising ways.

The earliest records of the mounted horse race goes back to 624 BC. Romans, Greeks and Arabs before them enjoyed horse racing and bet heavily on the outcome of races. They bet money, slaves and their women. The Mahabharatha, one of two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India probably composed around 200 BC tells of a dice game where king Yudhistera loses all his wealth, then his kinsmen.

He then gambles his brothers, himself and finally his wife into servitude. In 1020 AD the kings of Sweden and Norway met to decide the ownership of an isolated district. As they could not resolve the dispute by other means they chose to roll the dice. King Olaf of Sweden won the territory rolling two dice of six.

Gambling is ancient. Casinos are of recent vintage. The term Casino is of Italian origin, the root word “casa” meaning a small country house. The word has changed to refer to a building created for entertainment.

Gambling was introduced to the United States by immigrants from Europe and Asia, especially the Chinese. The frontier spirit and desire to explore new worlds have been likened to the gambling spirit. Both have elements of risk taking the expectation of high returns and opportunism. From the time of the cowboys, saloons in American cities such as Chicago, San Francisco and New Orleans, gambling was a form of entertainment for travellers. Saloons went out of fashion when social reformers and state legislation banned gambling in the 20th century. Gambling was an accepted and popular activity among settlers until it came under increasing attack from groups opposed to it. When banned in all American states, gambling was driven underground. This period lasted just a while. In 1910 the state of Nevada made it a felony to operate a gambling game. In 1931 the state of Nevada legalised gambling and the first legal casinos were set up in the city of Las Vegas which rose to become the Casino capital of the world.

Pleasure

Puritans in any country would be aghast at the notion of millions of square feet dedicated to pleasure and indulgence in casinos with table games, slot machines, bingo halls, guest rooms and suites, 24 hour-restaurants, convention centres, shopping malls, theatres and golf courses. It is estimated that worldwide gaming revenue will be around in $180 billion in 2015. Today Macau, a special administrative region of China earns more than all the US casinos. Macau is believed to have raked in $40 billion in revenue from its three dozen casinos. Singapore with two casino complexes earned over $ 5 billion while Las Vegas saw a revenue of $ 6 billion from its four dozen casinos.

In approving integrated resort projects including the one proposed by Australian Casino Mogul, chairman of Crown Limited, James Packer it appears law makers in Sri Lanka are seriously considering legalising casinos-rolling the dice to attract gamblers from all over the world who now travel to the USA and South East Asia. Casino advocates believe allowing legalised gambling to flourish will boost tourism, generate jobs and bring in revenue to Sri Lanka. Citizens groups, religious leaders, opposition politicians and other critics have raised concerns about the influence of organised crime and unavoidable vice that casinos entail.

So far it appears the debate has been confined to media coverage by anti-casino interests and a downplaying of economic benefits.

It is true revenue is not the only by-products of legalised casino gambling. Historically it has been plagued by corruption and infiltration by organised crime. Casinos are a front for large scale drug deals, luxury prostitution and money laundering. The relationship is easy to understand. When gambling was made illegal in America criminals were the only operators of the game for several years. When gambling restrictions were relaxed criminals were the first to open legal gambling establishments.

To some degree the first states legalising gambling needed the criminals to make gambling viable as no one else had the expertise in operation of gambling. Because of this history the concern about organised crime usually is raised in every country whenever legalising gambling is discussed. Much has changed since the days criminals and mobsters started the first modern casinos in Las Vegas.

Beginning in the 1950s a crackdown on criminal influence and cleansing of the casino industry led to mobs selling their casino interests to lawful individuals and publicly traded companies. Casino gaming has become one of the most regulated industries not only in the United States and Europe but also countries such as Australia, South Africa, Singapore and Malaysia. The organised crime scare of the mid 20th century today is just a scare. Companies looking to invest in tourist resorts will be devoid of crime influence because they are public held, answerable to shareholders, securities and exchange commissions and when “Licensed” to operate, tightly regulated.

Economic benefits

While historical concerns remain the economic benefits to Sri Lanka from a thin slice of the $180 billion world-wide gaming industry outweigh the risks of legalising the casino industry. Macau and Singapore highlight the growing dominance of the Asian casino industry and increasingly global nature of the casino business. In Japan casinos are currently banned and lawmakers have submitted a Bill to Parliament to legalise casinos bringing the nation closer to opening what is estimated to be the world's second largest gaming market.

It is estimated that annual gambling revenue will generate over $10 billion. Japan is likely to have the casinos operating before the next Olympic games in Tokyo in 2020.

Singapore and South Korea clamour for casino revenue, but restrict their own citizens access to casinos. Singapore has heavy admission fees for local gamblers. Malaysian Muslims are not allowed to enter the Casino de Jentling. Burma, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam have casinos open only to foreigners. Nepal's casinos housed in five star hotels are open only to foreigners.

In almost every Asian country, casinos are aimed at the international market and, therefore, all or most of the extra spending will come from visitors. Sri Lanka will be in global competition for casino tourists. To pretend we are going to complete with Macau, Singapore and other Asian markets will be interesting to see.

Tourism recognised as an important factor in the development of Sri Lanka's economy is one of the most profitable and rapidly developing industries in the world and Sri Lanka is getting ready to welcome two and half million tourists by 2016.

Casinos are part of the tourism product worldwide and is part of the formal system of attraction. In keeping casinos out we will be locking ourselves out of a part of the international tourism market. Last year more than one billion people crossed their national borders to travel and a large portion of these travellers were from Asia. Asians are fond of gambling. It is an accepted form of social intercourse and deeply ingrained in most Asian cultures, especially China, Japan and Korea. In 2012 more than 80 million Chinese tourists spent more than one billion dollars abroad and the Chinese have become the world's highest spending tourists.

With so many Asian countries banning or discouraging their citizens from gambling, gamblers from China, India, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia and also Singapore will find Sri Lanka an attractive Casino location rivalling the city state of Singapore itself.

Luxurious ambience

Millions of people visit casinos every year. They are neither addicted to gambling nor do they spend their last dollar in the casino. They enjoy their time, feel great in the luxurious ambience and know when to stop gambling. Today many tourists include gambling as part of their overall travel experience. Gambling is an activity that has taken place since recorded human history with no evidence to suggest that such pursuit have destroyed the fabric of society over time. There is growing acceptance of gambling as a legitimate consumption choice in all free and modern societies.

In countries where the local population is legally allowed to gamble, the available evidence points to problem gambling or pathological gambling afflicting a very small and possibly declining proportion of the population, very often less than three percent The personal and social problem of pathological gambling in which individuals are unable to control or limit their gambling is recognised by medical authorities as a cognitive disorder and various treatment and therapy programs developed to deal with the problem. Regulations in these countries do not restrict the freedom of all gamblers, problem gamblers and recreational from enjoying one of their favourite past times.

The government's attempted to relocate casinos and allowing new investments in Colombo's waterfront resorts that will include casinos has been treated with intense criticism – vigorous speculation and wild exaggeration mixed with morality. To these critics casinos look like the devils’ playground. Casino opponents portray casino gaming as the fountain of social wreckage. Most of the debris is imaginary.

The scale and nature of casino gaming is vast and complex. The alternative to legalised gambling is criminally supplied gambling. To ensure casinos are conducted honestly and remain free from criminal influence and do not harm society it is a step in the right direction to regulate and monitor the activities of casino gaming confined to tourists only in policed areas.

Allowing well regulated casinos with the objective of increasing tourism and revenue cannot have a negative impact on Sri Lankan society. Casino gaming can be the newest winning streak in Sri Lanka's economic growth.