In 1626 in Venice (Italy, Europe)  a public gambling house was legalized for the first time. Soon the high Venetian society met in so called little houses or "casini" to indulge in everything from business dealings, politics, gambling and more carnival pleasures. "Casino" became synonymous with vice and perdition.

Taking Venice as a model, gambling houses spread in many spa resorts throughout Europe. The most famous of all would give its name to the concept: Spa in Belgium where the casino activity has been officially recognized in the 17th century. Gambling houses became an official, organized and legal activity, patronized by the European aristocracy and bourgeoisie.

After the fall into disgrace of Venice, Spa boomed with new casinos, new games, longer opening hours (up to 12 hours a day) while casinos also thrived in France, Germany and England.

The 19th century marked the official legalization of casinos by Napoleon in 1806. Casinos introduced security, high standard, quality service, comfort, luxury. Managers started to restrict access to a selected clientele. The myth of the casino was born with stories of successes, heavy losses, bankruptcy, suicides, noble attitudes, fortunes made and lost overnight... Gambling became a fashionable hobby and casinos became the place to be and seen, a showcase of the rich and famous.

In 1837, all casinos in France were declared illegal. By opposition, in Germany, they prospered like in Baden-Baden, Wiesbaden or Bad-Homburg where for the first time chips were used as the instruments to wage. Casinos innovated with the introduction of the first single-zero roulette table.

In 1860, Monaco (Europe) was in great financial troubles when a man named François Blanc proposed to open a casino to overcome the misery. Three years later, the "Société des Bains de Mer" (SBM) was created with the opening of the casino. This became the most famous and glamorous gambling place on earth, Monte-Carlo.

The British aristocracy soon discovered the French Riviera for its winter holidays and Monte-Carlo for gambling thrills. New rooms were opened in the casinos, higher limits were introduced, fortunes were made and ended every day; in 1899, "salons privés" (private rooms) were opened with unlimited bets.

In the United States of America, after a brief attempt to legalize gambling on the riverboats of Louisiana in 1890, the end of the Prohibition in 1932 led to the extensive development of illegal gambling "joints" with the exception of the State of Nevada where gambling was legalized in 1931. Benjamin Siegel, alias "Bugsy", would be the founder of the modern Las Vegas we all know today as the World's Entertainment Capital. 

In Asia, gambling "dens" started operating in China, Saigon (Vietnam) and  in Macao where casinos opened as early as 1850. In 1962 when the "Sociedade de Turismo e Diversoes de Macao" won the monopoly for the casino licenses that Macao became a gambling empire within Asia.