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Gambling (or betting) is any behaviour involving the risk of money or valuables on the outcome of a game, contest, or other event in which the outcome of that activity is partially or totally dependent upon chance.Though for many it is a form of recreation, gambling, like any behaviour which involves variation in brain chemistry, can become a psychologically addictive and harmful behavior in some people. Reinforcement phenomena may also make gamblers persist in gambling even though they are losing. Because of the negative connotations of the word, casinos and race tracks often use the euphemism "gaming" to describe the recreational gambling activities they offer.
Gambling may also refer to engaging in any high-risk behavior in which decisions are made based upon incomplete knowledge. (For example, high-risk stock investments, difficult and potentially costly ventures, or even personal relationships.)
Gambling games are believed to predate recorded history, with gambling games recorded in virtually all of the ancient civilizations. Gambling is strictly prohibited in Islamic nations.
1 Legal aspects
Because of the generally negative religious view as well as various perceived social costs, gambling is subject to some form of censure on most legal jurisdictions. In particular, in many (most?) cases, wagers are not recognised in law as contracts and any consequent losses are debts of honour, unenforcable by legal process. Thus the enforcement of large gambling debts is often taken over by organized crime, using violent methods. Because contracts of insurance have many features in common with wagers, legislation generally makes a distinction, typically that any agreement in which either one of the parties has an interest in the outcome bet upon, beyond the specific financial terms, is a contract of insurance. Thus a bet on whether one's house will burn down is a contract of insurance as there is an independent interest in the security of one's home.
Furthermore, gambling is either banned or heavily controlled (licensed) in many jurisdictions. Such regulation generally leads to gambling tourism and illegal gambling. The latter is often controlled through organized crime. Such involvement frequently brings the activity under even more severe moral censure and leads to calls for greater regulation. Conversely, the close involvement in governments (through regulation and gambling taxation) has led to a close connection between many governments and gambling organisations, where legal gambling provides much government revenue.
2 Types of casino gambling
- Slot machines
- Poker (Also recognised as a game of skill)
- BlackjackFor other uses of the word see Blackjack (disambiguation playing card, like the Queen and King, counts 10 points, and the player picks a value of 1 or 11 for the Ace. At 21, this hand can only be beaten by a Charlie. Blackjack also known as vingt-et-un or
- BaccaratThis article is about the card game. For the town, see Baccarat (town). Baccarat is a gambling card game supposed to have been introduced into France from Italy during the reign of Charles VIII of France. There are two accepted variants of the game baccar
- CrapsCraps (previously known as crabs) is a popular casino gambling game using dice. Players wager money against the casino on the outcome of one roll, or of a series of rolls of the dice. The rules vary slightly from one casino to another, but the expected va
- RouletteThis page is about the game. Mathematics has another concept named roulette. Roulette is a casino game. A croupier turns a round roulette wheel which has 37 or 38 separately numbered pockets in which a ball must land. The main pockets are numbered from 1
- KenoKeno is a popular gambling game in the United States. Its history can be traced to a Chinese game called "The Game of the White Dove " invented during the Han Dynasty (187 BC). History The following account of the history of the game is an excerpt from St
- FaroFaro is a card game. Although both Basset and Faro were forbidden in France, on severe penalties, yet these games still continued in great vogue in England during the 18th century, especially Faro; for the alleged reasons that it was easy to learn, that i
- Pai GowPai Gow is a Chinese gambling game. It is played with the Chinese dominoes tile set. The game is played in underground casinos in most Chinese communities. It is played openly in major casinos in Macau, China, Las Vegas, Nevada, Atlantic City, New Jersey,
- PachinkoPachinko is a device used for gambling, described as a cross between a pinball machine and a slot machine. It is said to have been invented sometime after World War II in Nagoya, though the date is sometimes questioned. They are widespread in Japan, in es
- Sic Bo
