Centuries in the making.
A selective timeline of the institutions, objects and places that changed casino history. Follow each entry to its article and sources.
- c. 1475–1480
The Cloisters playing cards
The Metropolitan Museum dates its complete hunting-themed deck to this period; the cards do not preserve every rule of play.
Read the history - 1638
A public gambling house in Venice
The Ridotto opens with the authorisation of the Venetian Republic.
Read the history - 1774
The Ridotto closes
An official decision ends the famous Venetian establishment’s operation.
Read the history - 1838
Bénazet at Baden-Baden
A casino concession becomes part of the story of a European spa destination.
Read the history - 1847
Legalisation in Macao
The Portuguese administration makes gambling a regulated source of revenue.
Read the history - 1863
- 1879
An opera house beside the casino
Monte-Carlo’s Garnier theatre is inaugurated on 25 January.
Read the history - 1895
The three-reel mechanism
California’s landmark record dates Charles Fey’s invention to this year.
Read the history - 1931
Nevada legalises casino gambling
The legal framework precedes the rise of the Strip’s resort hotels.
Read the history - 1941
El Rancho Vegas opens
The roadside resort introduces a significant early Strip model.
Read the history - 1955 / 1959
Specialised oversight in Nevada
The Gaming Control Board is created in 1955, followed by the Gaming Commission in 1959.
Read the history - 1956
NSW clubs and poker machines
New South Wales legalises machines in registered clubs, a distinct path from casino development.
Read the history - 1962
- 1960s
The electrical transition
Electromechanical systems combine electrical components with moving mechanisms.
Read the history - 1973
Australia’s first legal casino
Wrest Point Hotel and Casino opens in Hobart on 10 February.
Read the history - 1978
Resorts opens in Atlantic City
New Jersey’s casino experiment becomes a functioning venue on 26 May.
Read the history - 1993 / 1996
A skyline changes
The Dunes’ north tower is imploded in 1993; the Sands is demolished in 1996.
Read the history - 1998
Bellagio opens
A new resort landmark occupies a site associated with the former Dunes.
Read the history - 2007
The Venetian Macao opens
The August opening becomes a milestone in Cotai’s integrated resort era.
Read the history
Approximate dates are marked “c.” or given as a decade. This is a selective chronology, not a claim to an uninterrupted global sequence. The 1895 date follows California’s state landmark record.