- The State of Nevada first legalized gambling in 1931.
- Las Vegas has the largest concentration of casinos in the United States. Based on revenue Atlantic City, New Jersey ranks second, and the Chicago region third.
- Annual visitors to Las Vegas, in millions 36.7
- 17 of the 20 biggest hotels in the U.S. are in Las Vegas.
- The term "Casino" is of Italian origin, the root word being "Casa" (house) and originally meant a small country villa, summerhouse or pavilion.
- A "fruit machine" is the British term for a slot machine, or "one-armed bandit."
- Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships and other tourist attractions.
- The precise origin of gambling is unknown. The Chinese recorded the first official account of the practice in 2300 BC, but it is generally believed that activity of gambling, in some way or another, has been seen in almost every society in history.
- The first known European casino was the Ridotto, established in Venice Italy 1638 to provide controlled gambling during the carnival season
- Roulette was invented by the great French mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal.
- In American history, early casinos were originally known as saloons.
- The marquees of the 50 largest casinos and hotels in Las Vegas use enough electricity to run more than 1,000 average U.S. homes.
- The minimum age to gamble in Nevada is 21.
- In 18th-century English gambling dens, there was an employee whose only job was to swallow the dice if there were a police raid.
- Average number of Vegas weddings per day 315
- Cost of Nevada marriage license, in dollars 35
- 57% of Americans have bought a lottery ticket in the last year.
- Playing with house money refers to the situation where a winning player is placing bets with money that has been won from the casino.
- Residents of Nevada bet an average of $846 a year in gambling casinos.
- Number of slot machines in Las Vegas 197,144
Facts about casinos and gambling
