You may not know it, but some of the games of chance that we know and love today originated in India. However, there’s a world of difference between snakes and ladders and the roulette wheel. Casino gambling in India has a complicated past and present – and it’s likely to depend on where you are as to how easily you access a gambling game or two. This blog post will explore more about where online gambling in India began – and where it’s going next.
The origins of casino gambling in India
On some levels, it wouldn’t be a surprise to learn that casino gambling in India has a long history. In fact, it’s the case that some of what we now consider to be the world’s major forms of gambling actually originated here back in the day. It shares, with ancient Rome and China, the status of being one of the earliest hubs of gambling.
There’s some evidence that a forerunner of the game craps, for example, was present in India when people wanted to choose a new king – and that dice were used to make the decision. It’s not known for certain, but it’s believed by some that this is where craps as we know it today originated. Fast forward a few centuries, and Indians who were involved with games such as sheep fighting found themselves building locations for their games to take place – and running gambling games alongside. These, then, can be understood as some of the earliest ever gambling sites in India.
The current picture
Times can change though. The reality in modern India at the moment is that casino gambling is actually not permitted in all but a handful of Indian states. Only three – Sikkim, Goa and Daman – permit casino gambling – and this is considered unlikely to change, at least in the very near future.
However, there are still plenty of options for those who want to gamble at casinos in India. Instead, though, they have to go online in order to do it, where it is, in fact, legal. It’s entirely possible to play Fruit Shot Megaways, roulette or poker, for example – but it has got to be done from the comfort of your own home, and without attending a physical location. Whether this will change in the decades to come, though, remains to be seen – and will be down in large part to the political will of the state and federal governments as time goes on.
Ultimately, it’s apparent that the history of casinos in India is a complicated one. It’s only legal, for a start, in a certain small number of jurisdictions – and it’s often the case that people who want to gamble, both inside and outside of those areas, head online to do so. However, with a gaming heritage stretching back centuries, it’s perfectly possible that the Indian authorities will relax their stringent rules around gambling and open up more in-person casinos.
