In the early 19th century the United States appeared in the first gambling houses (remember, by the way, that it was at that time the settlers brought to the continent roulette). The center of the casino at first was New Orleans on the banks of the Mississippi River, but very little information about those times survived. In the middle of the 19th century, a gold rush broke out in California and the Wild West. Along with prospectors, other fortune seekers – primarily hustlers and casino owners – moved to the West. Gambling was practiced in almost every saloon, which turned into real gambling houses. Although it would be hard to call them a real casino.
Until the 1940s in Las Vegas there were no fashionable casinos – only second-rate gaming clubs. Only in the 50s, the city began to gain fame as the capital of gambling. At a time when Europe already existed in fashionable gaming parlors and luxury bizzo casinos, the majority of gaming clubs in America were low-key establishments, which were often dangerous to visit for life. Even Las Vegas until the 1940s did not stand out in this regard and its heyday is probably owed to a gangster named Benjamin Bugsy Siegel. Bugsy specialized in gambling and bookmaking. In those years, gambling was prohibited in the eastern states of the United States, and in the western states (like Nevada) was on the contrary – allowed, to raise revenues that had fallen due to the Great Depression.
It was Bugsy who came up with the idea to build the first truly swanky casino in Las Vegas, the Flamingo. But the construction was carried out with large embezzlement, the mafia was very dissatisfied that the money goes down the drain, and even sentenced Bugsy to death. But the execution was postponed until the opening of the casino. On September 26, 1947, the Flamingo was opened. There were many celebrities at the ceremony, including Hollywood stars, but it didn’t help. The casino soon went bankrupt (probably because of Bugsy’s machinations), and Bugsy himself was killed in 1947. Nevertheless, “Flamingo” became the first swallow, pardon the pun, for gambling in Las Vegas. Today, Las Vegas is the gambling capital of the world with 50 casinos open 24/7. Each year, 30 million players come to the city. When the famous Desert Inn casino opened, its founder threw away the key with the words that it was no longer needed. And it’s true – most casinos in Las Vegas are open all the time. And to play in them, according to Nevada law, everyone over the age of 21 is allowed. Since 1978, gambling clubs have been opened in Atlantic City and New Jersey to make these resorts more attractive to tourists. Nevada in general has seen a significant recent increase in the number of casinos.
State-owned casinos have also been opening in Canada since about the early 1990s of the 20th century. As in most such cases they are designed to attract tourists. North America as a whole holds the record for the size and prevalence of gaming clubs.
