History & Culture of Gambling

Question 1

is gambling a part of human nature that has existed since time immemorial?

Answer 1

• no
• If true:
• • Then it would be unwise to impose gambling restrictions
• • Problem gambling could also be an inevitable/unavoidable side-effect that’s existed since time immemorial

Question 2

Areas without ancient gambling

Answer 2

• South America: restricted to Peru & Ecuador only in post-colonial times
• Muslim world: Minimal gambling in Middle East & Iran (gambling forbidden in Koran) but flourished in West Africa (regardless of the fact that it’s also an Islamic area)
• No gambling in Melanesia, Australia, New Zealand (very different now –> Australia is one of the world’s top gambling countries

Question 3

2 main elements related to commercialization of gambling (“mercantilism”)

Answer 3

• Expected value: mathematical rate of return on a decision or activity (+ EV = long-term profit; - EV = long-term loss)
• House edge: how the gambling game is designed to ensure a positive EV (profit) for the gambling operator, which entails a negative EV (loss) for the gambler
• • On slot machines, EV is hard-coded as the Return to Player

Question 4

Ancient forms of gambling

Answer 4

• Astragaloi: carved knucklebones of sheep used by ancient Greeks (and Romans) to play dice games dating back to the Trojan war
• Aztecs: rubber ball game similar to raquetball; Patolli (strategy game) –> audience bets on both games

Question 5

cultural predictors of gambling

Answer 5

• money

- religion/belief systems

Question 6

cultural predictors of gambling: money

Answer 6

• not necessarily based on money –> people in Tanzania play yukuchuko: bet valuable resources (ie. Arrowheads, pots) to spread these resources around the society (ie. Someone with the best resources will be pressured to bet so those resources have a chance of going to someone else for a while)
• • Implications: gambling doesn’t require money; prosocial effects rely on pure chance and lack of house edge
• • Social levelling effect of gambling: can redistribute valuable items amongst members of a community

Question 7

cultural predictors of gambling: religion/belief systems

Answer 7

• games of chance occur more frequently in societies where gods are believed to be benevolent and easy to coerce, and less so where gods are perceived as aggressive
• • Many historical and non-Western societies have no concept of probability in the mathematical sense –> may rely more on spiritual beliefs