People have been gambling since the dawn of time. Be it for money, be it for some kind of product or a service, gambling has existed a long time before it started getting legalized across the world.
The first thing that comes to your mind when someone mentions gambling is probably Las Vegas. This is due to the countless movies and TV shows that depict the Sin City as the ultimate city of fun, gambling and booze. Well, producers are not to blame: Las Vegas is the center of gambling in the USA, after all.
In fact, the state of Nevada is one of the first states in the USA that have regulated gambling in 1955. The Nevada Gaming Control Board was established in order to provide regulations for the operation of gambling and licensing. Later on, other states followed like Delaware, New Jersey and about two dozen more. Pennsylvania is one of the latest states that actually joined the club, regulating online gambling in 2019.
History of Gaming Regulation in Nevada
Nevada has quite the history when it comes to gambling. When it was still a territory, in 1861, it was faced with the first prohibition of all forms of gambling and gaming. In spite of the Governor’s veto, the Nevada Legislature legalized gambling in 1869, imposing a license fee and approving numerous games. Between the years 1869 and 1907, a lot of new changes happened, with the fee for all games except slot machines, going to the county, while those for slots to the state. Then again, in 1909 gambling in all forms was prohibited from the 1st of October, 1910.
This is when the Nevada Tax Commission was established to collect the fees, and in 1955 the State Gaming Control Board was created to eliminate undesirable elements in gambling and provide regulations for the operation of gambling and licensing, and to protect the stability of the gambling industry through licensing, enforcement of laws and regulations, investigations and tax collection.
In 1959, though, the Nevada Gaming Commission was created, with the passage of the Gaming Control Act, serving in part-time capacity. The Commission acts on recommendations of the Board, and has the final authority on sanctioning licensees, approving, limiting, conditioning, restricting, denying, revoking or suspending gambling licenses. Finally the Gaming Policy Committee was formed in 1961, making advisory recommendations which are not binding on the Commission or Board in the performance of their duties.