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Gambling Through Time: Part 3 - Games in the Renaissance
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The Renaissance, meaning “rebirth,” was a three hundred year period that ran from the 14th through the 17th Centuries in Europe. The Renaissance was not only a rebirth of the sciences and the arts, but it also played host to the origins of many of today's most popular casino games and other gambling endeavors. Gone were the simplistic dice games that had dominated the gaming scene for so long. With the rise of card games came other gaming innovations.
For example, Thirty-One, the obvious predecessor of blackjack, gained popularity across Northern Europe in the 15th and 16th Centuries. Not long after, the first 21-card game similar to today's blackjack appeared in France under the name of Vingt et Un (twenty-one), and while it briefly coexisted with Thirty-One, it would eventually replace it and take on its modern name of blackjack.
Poker also traces its origins to the Renaissance. One of the primary influences of poker—a Persian game called As Nas—arrived in Europe at the beginning of the 16th Century along with other, more practical imports that were flooding North along trade routes that had been opened during the Crusades.
Casino di Venezia was built along the waters of Venice, Italy in 1638. It is considered by many to be one of the first casinos in the world, and since it continues to operate today it is undoubtedly the oldest existing casino in the world. It's first tables featured dice, knife, domino and card games; an amalgamation of influences from Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
Famed French mathematician and quintessential Renaissance man Blaise Pascal created the first version of the roulette wheel in the 17th Century. Though Pascal's early efforts were more physics-related (he was trying to create a perpetual motion machine), the di had nevertheless been cast. Within the next hundred years the game was tweaked and perfected until it became something very similar to what we still play in casinos today.
Meanwhile, in other parts of the world...
In China, the original Pai Gow dominoes game and several card games were already popular by the time the European Renaissance came about, and while there was nothing as elaborate or organized as Casino di Venezia, smaller gambling dens were a regular sight in China's larger cities.
In the Middle East, a form of horse racing totally different from the early Roman Chariots appeared early in the16th Century. These races rewarded speed and endurance in the best of the desert-bred Arabians. Over the next couple centuries, European royalty imported many of these horses, and they served as the foundation for what would eventually become today's racing Thoroughbreds.
The continent that would become America was discovered early in the Renaissance, and by the end of it the “New World” was well-settled. Before long, new cities started to form, and where people gathered inevitably games took form. The many different influences represented in these cities came together to put a new and exciting spin on classic games from around the world.
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