Casino Gaming Gambling
Since the first casino or gambling house originated in Italy during the 17th century, the word too originated in Italy. The word means ‘little house’, although today if you Google Translate the english word casino, do not be too surprised if the word brothel pops up. The first controlled gambling environment was established in Venice in 1638, II Ridotto, and later appeared in Europe as well during the 19th century. Although casinos are widely known today for housing gaming and gambling, casinos may also include live entertainment such as stand up comedy, theatre performances, sports events and so much more. Very few casinos may even host only entertainment and not facilitate any gaming for chance.
For casinos that house gambling and gaming, it's often accompanied by or located in hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, or other tourist attractions. There is a difference between gambling and gaming, namely that the latter is less of chance and more of a skill but for simplicity, let’s just refer to gambling unless a differentiation is needed.
A deeper understanding of gambling may consider better on the stakes of risk and in hopes of gain on a particular game, competition, or any uncertainty. Many sources track the first appearance of gambling as far back as the 9th century in China through playing cards. The precise origin is unknown but in some form or another it appeared throughout history in essentially every society. Historically in the United States, gambling occurred in saloons which you were probably already aware of if ever having watched a western movie or series, usually with the brothel on the second floor. Luckily, I have watched my share of ‘westerns’ thanks to the same being one of my father’s favorite genres but I digress.
Today the more notorious countries that promote and engage in casinos and gambling are Monaco, Italy, Macau, Germany, Portugal, Singapore, Russia and the United States. With the expansion of the industry, modernization and incorporation of technology has also played a role. There are gambling softwares, such as the first Microgaming from the Isle of Man, online casinos, alternative methods of payment such as via cryptocurrency or fiat based payments. A rough estimate of the amount of money legally wagered annually in the world is about $10 trillion (illegal gambling may well exceed even this figure). Casinos, gambling and gaming regulations vary from country to country and state to state.
Casinos have been linked to organised crime or gaming has been used to facilitate money laundering. Casinos and gaming operators have their work cut out to protect the assets of the house and their honest patrons as well as deter being used to facilitate criminal activity. Casinos are often equipped with high-tech security cameras, well-trained security staff, and experienced compliance professionals to combat potential crimes or detect crimes. With the potential of facilitating crimes, it is essential that an anti-money laundering specialist, or team of specialists, be well-trained, knowledgeable, and experienced to conduct all obligations of the casino.
The world of casinos, gambling and gaming is quite immense and evolving quite quickly with treaties, regulatory amendments and the introduction of new laws. A good source of information is Vixio who has an informative podcast called VIXIO GamblingCompliance and covers global information despite being located primarily in London and Washington DC. Also ACAMS recently released an AML Foundation in Gaming course certification which is great for those looking to transition.
