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469 pages

English

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The most comprehensive reference book on betting and gambling on the market with over 1200 cross referenced entries. It explores the history, systems, theory, law, word origins and slang as well the scandals, scams and the huge array of unforgettable characters and audacious coups.

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Publié par	eBookPartnership.com
Date de parution	01 septembre 2014
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781783013715
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	2 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0350€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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Don t Bet the Farm
The Encyclopedia of Betting Gambling
Over 1200 entries detailing the Stories, History, Law, Theories, Personalities, Slang, Word Origins, Terms, Trivia, Games, Legends, Scams, Stings, Scandals, Coups, Winners .and Losers.
Liam O Brien
Contents
Introduction
Chronology
A - C
D - G
H - L
M - Q
R - Z
Bibliography
Notes
Other books by Liam O Brien
What are the Odds? An A-Z of Sports and Prop Betting What s the SP? Betting on Racing: An A-Z You Bet! An A-Z of Poker, Casinos and Lotteries
http://twitter.com/DontBetTheFarm
Introduction
People have gambled for thousands of years for a whole range of reasons and continue to fuel the ongoing debate as to whether it is as a natural inclination and or some kind of deviant practice with negative social consequences. Should people have a right to gamble when they want or does society need to strictly control it or even outlaw it? Either way, there can be little doubt that gambling has left its mark on the world in a plethora of sometimes obvious and sometimes very subtle ways. For some traditional societies it was a harbinger of future events and was even be used to interpret divine messages. For some countries it has provided finds for both nation building and colonialism through lotteries. Financial products such as pensions and insurance were closely linked to gambling in the early stages of their evolution and the creation of stock markets and associated derivatives have created mechanisms for people to speculate on commodities. For some people gambling has provided the means of escapism, a bit of fun, a chance to dream beyond life s mundane realities. For others it has provided a revenue earner or even a livelihood, either working in the gambling industry side based on the house edge , the mathematical built in bias which occurs in most gambling games and markets or alternatively, for the relatively small numbers who have the ability to beat that edge. The flip side is the profoundly negative effect on the proportion of the population for whom gambling becomes a serious problem which can lead to a range of associated issues. Even worse is the increasingly speculative nature of food commodities markets where financial institutions and hedge funds betting on food prices in largely unregulated futures and derivative markets have contributed to massive price hikes and volatility in recent years. The original purpose of such markets, to create a stable pricing structure so that producers could guarantee an income for themselves has been lost in a sea of speculative behaviour and greed resulting in catastrophic consequences for many on the breadline, particularly in third world countries.
On a more mundane level, the traditional betting landscape which most of us are familiar with is changing beyond all recognition as we move further into the 21 st century. The lines of demarcation have become increasingly blurred; traditional betting shops now resemble mini-gaming emporiums, mobile phones are portable gambling devices and the internet brings thousands of online bookmakers and casinos into people s homes. Poker sites and betting exchanges can get people from opposite sides of the world gambling with each other without leaving their bedrooms. The idea of state monopolies or illegality is becoming increasingly irrelevant unless the state is prepared to take extreme action against online transactions as has happened in the United States. Whether this can be an effective long-term policy is questionable because a recurring element throughout the history of gambling has been its adaptability. As technology evolved from the printing press to the telegraph to the telephone and to the internet, gambling found another niche. If it was made illegal, it either went underground usually with far more negative consequences or it simply moved elsewhere.
Organised gambling may indeed be playing an increasing role in 21 st century life but nevertheless for most it remains a minor leisure activity, a combination of entertainment, escapism, luck and sometimes skill. For those who see it as an integral part of their life, there should be only two choices; either get good at it or quit. This book mightn t help you do either but it will take you on a rollercoaster journey through the in and outs and the ups and downs of the world of gambling.
Chronology
3000 BC Earliest known six-sided dice made around this time in what is now Iraq.
2560 BC A tablet at the Great pyramid of Giza tells the story of how Thoth, the god of night, gambled with the moon to win five new days to add to the calendar.
2300 BC Go; a strategy game played by two people in whom spectators can bet is played in China.
200 BC Keno, a lottery type game is first played in China.
10 BC Julius Caesar restricts gambling in Rome to the Saturnalia festival.
40 Roman soldiers draw lots for the clothes of Jesus Christ.
529 Byzantine Emperor and head of Orthodox Church Justinian I issues the Corpus Juris Civilis of civil and canon law, in which gambling in public and private houses is banned.
700 Arab caliph Abd al Malik distributes the wealth of Syria among his army officers with a series of coin tosses.
818 Holy Roman Emperor Louis the Pious rules that gambling clergy will be suspended from office for three years.
1190 Gambling is forbidden for those below the rank of knight during the Third Crusade.
1377 Swiss monk Johannes von Rheinfelden writes of a new card game of 52 cards with four suits.
1388 Dicing banned under Richard II as it was considered to be disrupting archery practice.
1394 Dukes of Saxony and Letzburg play cards for an unenclosed portion of the forest of Ardennes.
1423 Public burning of playing cards in Bologna after a sermon by Bernadine of Siena.
1440 First full deck of cards printed.
1444 The earliest recorded lottery in which participants pay an entry fee is held in Sluis (L cluse) in the Netherlands to raise funds to repair the city s walls and fortifications.
1446 Widow of Flemish painter Jan Van Eyck raffles his remaining works.
1461 Parliament under King Edward IV prohibits card and dice games, except at Christmas.
1466 First recorded lottery to involve buying of tickets and distribution of prize money is held in Bruges in Belgium to raise money for the town s poor.
1477 Parliament introduces legislation that house owners can be prosecuted for allowing premises to be used for games of chance.
1495 Legislation allows the lower classes to gamble during the Christmas period.
1515 Elections to the Genoa Senate carried out by lottery.
1520 Francis I of France legalises lotteries in five cities, the first lotteries to have royal assent.
1526 First record of the Groom Porter, official in charge of organising royal gambling in England.
1530 The first publicly run European lottery commences in Florence, raising money for public works.
1541 The Bill for maintaining Artillery and Debarring unlawful Games bans many games and gaming houses apart from during Christmas.
1566 Royal assent is given to hold a British state lottery.
1569 The first government run lottery draw in Britain takes place.
1591 Pope Gregory XIV threatens excommunication for anyone betting on the election of a new pope.
1594 Caravaggio paints The Cardsharps .
1612 The Virginia Company based in London holds a lottery to fund the Virginia colony.
1615 James I introduces tax on playing cards which lasts until 1960.
1621 The Virginia lottery ceases by order of government..
1624 First recorded anti-gambling decree in North America enacted by the Virginia Assembly.
1631 London s first aqueduct water supply is built with funds raised by lottery.
1636 Tulipomania reaches its peak.
1638 The first state sanctioned public gambling house in Europe, the Ridotto in Venice opens.
1646 Massachusetts bans gambling in public houses, the first such law in the British colonies.
1653 Lottery held amongst members of Cromwell s army to distribute lands of Irish rebels. Tontine invented by Neapolitan banker Lorenzo de Tonti.
1657 Cromwellian parliament passes legislation that allowed the loser of a bet to sue for twice the amount lost.
1663 The first book on probability theory, Liber de Ludo Aleae ( Book on Games of Chance ) by Gerolamo Cardano is published.
1664 First specific anti-gambling law in Britain as Parliament passes An Act against Deceitful, Dishonest, and Excessive Gaming .
1665 The first horse racetrack in North America is built on Long Island.
1674 The Compleat Gamester by Charles Cotton, the first gambling book in English is published.
1685 Currency notes printed on backs of playing cards during paper shortage in Canada.
1691 Basset banned in France after numerous nobles financially ruined.
1694 The Million Lottery is introduced by parliament to fund the Nine Years War.
1698 First organised trading of securities in Britain begins at Jonathan s Coffee-House in the City of London.
1710 Parliament legislates that losers of bets of more than 10 can sue the winners.
1720 Thousands of speculators ruined after the South Sea Company bubble bursts.
1726 Dutch Lottery founded, the oldest still in operation.
1728 The last of the three Arabian horses from which virtually all modern thoroughbred racing stock is descended from is imported into Britain.
1730 The philosopher Voltaire wins 1 million francs in a Parisian lottery after spotting a flaw in its terms.
1732 Papal States lottery begins with pope s approval.
1738 Parliament prohibits many gambling games including faro, basset and hazard unless approved by the Groom Porter..
1744 Massachusetts becomes the first North American colony to hold a lottery to finance public works (to protect borders against French invasion).
1745 Gambling houses are outlawed as are many games including E/O, a roulette type board game.
1752 The Jockey Club is established.
1753 The Brit