Gambling is one of the world’s most ancient past-times. Literature from many parts of the world and from all sorts of different cultures reference the popularity of gambling – whether it is old Hindu poems from as long ago as the 4th Century BC, to the frequent references in the Christian Bible, it is widely documented that people have been gambling on all sorts of things for as long as anyone can remember.
In this article we bring you a bit of the context about gambling – a beginner’s guide if you will.
What is gambling?
At its most basic, gambling is when you bet or wager money or something else that you value on the outcome of a specific event. The money or item of value that you have wagered is referred to as the stakes – if you predict the outcome correctly you win the stakes that have been wagered, if you are incorrect then you lose the stages that you have wagered. The outcome is generally determined by chance, or by luck, or by something that is completely outside of the control of the people involved in the wager.
What can you gamble on?
There really is no limit on what you can gamble on – you just need an event that will have an outcome and someone willing to wager that there will be a different outcome to the one that you believe will happen. The most common types of gambling or on casino-style games, random number lotteries, or sporting events such as horse racing. Most modern casino games have originated in either Europe or China and these have been exported around the world. A lot of casino games can now be played online also which means that these days you don’t even need to leave your house if you fancy indulging in a little bit of gambling.
Why is gambling regulated?
In most parts of the world there is some form of regulation in place in relation to gambling activities. This isn’t a new thing – there is evidence throughout the ages gambling regulations being enforced. In its early days, the Catholic Church held the official position that there was no moral impediment to gambling as long as the gambling was fair – that everyone had a reasonable chance of winning and there was no fraud involved. Those basic principles generally form the foundation for the gambling regulations that we now see in place in most countries – some countries prohibit gambling altogether. In many countries, gambling has been associated with criminal activity – this is primarily because a lot of money changes hands as a result of gambling, this means that gambling can be used to launder money obtained through criminal activity or gambling operations become the target for robbery.
While the dangers of becoming addicted to gambling are widely documented, as long as you know your limits gambling on the outcome of all sorts of events can be a lot of fun and may even deliver you a valuable prize if you guess the correct outcome.