There is a terrific quote to begin the article about "The History of Gambling". It goes likes this:
"They gambled in the Garden of Eden, and they will again if there's another one." - Richard Albert Canfield.
Gambling is something intrinsic in the nature of human beings. There is evidence of gambling activities in the earliest civilisations. Gambling is mentioned in both the Old and New Testaments. One of the earliest gamblers
was the Roman Emperor Claudius who played an early form of Backgammon and enjoyed dice games.
Dice games from 2000 years ago were originally played with dice fashioned from the knucklebones of sheep. Romans were fervent gamblers and are depicted in wall drawings found at Pompeii.
There is more to be added to this article, going through to The earliest Casinos.