International Business Degree

If you are one who thinks gambling is a new activity that blossomed in Las Vegas in the 20th century, you may need to brush up on your gambling facts. To get a good idea of how large the gambling story is, try going back a couple of thousand years. You’ll see that games based on chance and the roll of dice have been always been a part of human history.

Not only did the Chinese and other populations enjoy gambling and games of chance, many Native American groups engaged in such activities long before the modern casino. Add to this the varieties of gambling carried around the world by European explorers and you have a global phenomenon of challenge and excitement. Here’s a starter fact – lotteries have even been used to raise funds for public construction projects.

o If you see 100 people on the street in a day, it’s a pretty safe bet that about 65 of them have placed a bet or made a wager in the past year.

o By many counts, profits in gambling casinos worldwide amount to $30 billion annually. Various studies report that Native American reservations host nearly 300 casinos.

History of gambling facts: The state of Nevada legalized gambling in 1931. New Jersey was the second state to make gambling legal (1976). South Dakota and Iowa followed in 1989.

o While casinos have operated in Nevada since the 1940s, the state created its Gaming Commission in 1959.

One myth that seems reluctant to die is that online gambling is not fair to players, because of casino control, less-than-random numbers and so on. Essentially, this is false. Safe-gaming software, eCommerce Online Regulation and Assurance (eCOGRA) and various licensing countries have eliminated much of the insecurity and unfair play. The myth may soon turn into one of the many Internet gambling facts.

o Casino style games are by far the most popular activity online, outnumbering sports betting 2 to 1. Lotteries and pari-mutuel betting are far down the list in percentage of online gambling activity, as are real-time online poker rooms.

o The Interstate Wire Act, passed in 1961, is a federal law that had the goal of reducing gambling activity. The law states that it is illegal in the United States to use wire communication (such as telephone) to place bets or share gambling information.

Interesting Gambling Facts: Sixty percent of online gamblers use English as their primary language. Second in line is Russian. Germany takes up position number three, according to a survey by Inland Entertainment Corporation. As for age, the numbers are close, but those between 26 and 34 play a bit more than others. One out of every five players is over the age of 45.

o In addition to online casinos, some of the most popular varieties of Web/Internet gambling are lotteries, sports books (wager on football, rugby, baseball etc.).

o According to a 2007 story in USA Today, the Venetian Macao casino was the largest in the world (on the southern tip of China). Foxwoods in Connecticut is also advertised as the world’s largest casino.

Very Interesting Gambling Facts: Video slots are generally considered the most popular online casino game. Roulette is one of the hardest games to win, while casino poker is often considered one of the easiest (with a little skill). If you can learn to count cards, you can move blackjack to the top of the “easier” list.

o There are 24 possible number combinations when a pair of dice is rolled.

o In 2003, a man won more than $39 million in a slot payout, after putting about $100 in. In 1997, a woman won $12 million in one payout.

Even More Interesting Gambling Facts: Gambling is technically legal in nearly every state, in some form. Other than the Wire Act mentioned earlier, there is little federal regulation pertaining to gambling by an individual.

Do some of your own research on gambling facts. Learn more about gambling history and surprise your friends with your knowledge of gambling statistics. It’s challenging and fun!

An Overview

Gambling nowadays is not related to a mere recreation activity albeit it has now taken a new direction into business and industry. For some it’s a pleasure activity and for the others it is a lucrative business. Although gambling is not at all a new sport which has emerged in this century, it has been a favorite of our ancestors and the historians date back the involvement into this activity to prehistoric times. It has been factually proved that even the early caveman was a gambler.

Gambling to a layman would mean sport involving money and an easy way to multiply the same. Although being a part f this sport means staking of one thing or the other. History has witnessed several incidents where not only wealth and material objects were a part of this game but also one’s own identity or the ownership of a family member was staked.

Gambling activity in this century has taken a two dimensional outlook. With high paced lives and scarcity of time for almost everything, even recreation activities are time bound. To this new age life, Internet comfortably snuggles in and creates a position of its own, thus giving room to Online Gambling. As compared to traditional gambling practices where one has to be physically available in the arena of casino, online gambling gives us the comfort of gambling in the privacy of our homes or café.

To further elaborate on both the categories of gambling lets have a closer look into the basic features of both. Traditional gambling basically has three types of games involved namely the table games, random games and gaming machines. Almost all the categories in traditional gambling requires parting with physical cash and getting them converted into chips which are of various denominations and are then further used in the game. The only division of game which does not require conversion of cash into chips is that of slot machines. Here the gambler has to place a quarter into the slot machine and pull on the lever. There are still some games where cash is deposited, but that is mainly confined to games which involve huge jackpots. Generally in such games the basic deposit only sums up to a huge amounts.

Online gambling, on the other hand, is a relatively comfortable way of enjoying the game. Needless to say the reason for its manifold popularity goes to the time factor and the availability of pleasure at the click of a button. Moreover, in order to attract more and more people into online gambling the owners make their sites tempting by offering various payback schemes and added advantages to its members. All sorts of games can be selected by just logging on the website. Basically the games available in this form of gambling can be broadly divided into two categories, one in which a particular software needs to be downloaded and the other which can be played without it as well.

Comparative Analysis of Traditional Gambling and Online Gambling

Although online gambling is gaining momentum, traditional gambling is still the undisputed leader in the business. There are pros and cons in both forms of gambling and it depends upon the personal liking of each gambler as to which form suits his or her requirement.

In traditional gambling where one can find the adrenaline rising and pressure on one’s nerves, the same is a miss in online gambling to some extent. The pleasure of winning and celebrating can be only enjoyed in the traditional gambling. The drive behind playing it again and again lies in winning and celebrating, thus giving instant boost in business of the casino owners. Winning of one motivates thousands others to remain in the game. Thus if we see the involvement, pleasure and financial aspect of gambling, no doubt traditional gambling would take a lead into it.

Online gambling, on the other hand, suits one and all to the extent of people residing in remote areas where availability of an actual casino is a miss. All it requires is a basic internet connection and you are into the pleasure of the sport. It gives you the leverage of time and space. Another advantage of online gambling can be that one can enjoy huge payouts and bonuses, but along with it the companies keep a catch of not paying the entire earned amount in order to make the gambler play for long. The reason for making a player gamble for longer durations is that generally the longer you play the chances of you losing increase, thereby making the casino owners reap higher profit margins.

In terms of business traditional gambling is favorable to the casino owners. They have all the tools and tactics available to make a gambler play and stay for long which in turn means that the odds increase in the favour of casino owners. But for a gambler, traditional form of gambling may be of loss at times as the earnings are lesser than the actual amount earned. Generally the payouts are in terms of 5 or 6 times the actual amount put at stake but the casinos pay out lesser and so results in visible loss.

Conclusion

Gambling in the eyes of gambler has its own dimensions which cannot be gauged by the critics. Form of gambling may have difference of opinions but the ultimate pleasure of sport cannot be undermined in either form of gambling.

On the other hand gambling as a line of business may mean totally different to the casino owners. They would have an altogether different stream of thoughts to analyze the two forms of gambling.