Gambling information

What is gambling?

• Actually there is no single, clear cut definition of what gambling is but it is widely agreed that:
• Two or more people agree to take part in the activity (usually an operator and the person who wishes to gamble)
• Normally money (the 'stake') is paid by the loser to the winner The outcome is uncertain
• The result is determined at least partly by chance
• Participation is an active experience but can be avoided by not taking part.

A brief history

• 2000 BC Egyptians used knucklebones as four sided dice
• 1500 BC in China, spinning discs were used to play an early roulette game
• 210 AD the first recorded horse race took place in England
• 1588 the first lottery was approved in Britain by Elizabeth I to raise money to repair the Cinque Ports
• 1895 Charles Fey, a mechanic from San Francisco produced the first slot machine
• 1906 gambling in public was prohibited by the Street Betting Act 1926 the first greyhound race in Britain was held in Manchester 1926 Winston Churchill imposed a betting tax (abolished three years later)
• 1960 the Betting and Gaming Act legalised betting shops in Britain. Before this there was widespread illegal gambling
• 1964 Gamblers Anonymous was founded in the UK (having originated in America)
• 1994 the national Lottery was launched
• 1995 Lottery Scratchcards were introduced
• 1996 for the first time betting shops were allowed to have (a maximum of two) fruit machines
• 2007 The UK Government introduced the Gambling Act 2005