Italy has had a long history with gambling, and it has existed in many forms over the centuries. It actually dates way back to the days of the Roman Empire, when the game that preceded today’s backgammon beca,e popular amongst the legionnaires. At the time, the game was known as Ludus Duodecim Scriptorum, and it is mainly due to the Romans that the game spread throughout Europe. The first ever gambling house in Italy was opened up in 1638, which was called Ridotto. It was a government sanctioned establishment, with the authorities aiming to control the industry. Admission to the gambling house was free, but only rich people could afford to play any of the games there due to the high stakes. The games played within were biribi, which resembled lottery, and bassetta.

The word ‘casino’ is actually of Italian origin as well, as due to Ridotto closing in 1774, there was a big boom in the amount of people playing in closed clubs. These clubs were given the name of ‘casinos’. Throughout much of the 1900s, the Italian population mostly frowned upon the pastime of gambling, and this was possibly due to strong associations between gambling and the mafia, who have been tied to illegal clubs in the country in the past. Over the last few decades, gambling has once again regained its popularity in Italy though. Only recently have certain types of gambling been made legal there, having spent many years being completely against the law.

However, today, sports betting is considered to be skill-based, and is therefore a legal pastime. However, even though this is the case, the government only allowed a handful of state-backed operators to provide such services in the beginning. It would probably be the same today had a European Commission investigation not forced the law to change in 2006. Legislation was brought in at this time to legalise certain other games of skill, as well as open up its gambling market to bookmakers licensed outside of the Italian borders. Afterwards, various other forms of gambling were made legal, with poker initially permitted in tournament form in 2007, and cash games and video poker being made lawful in 2010.