The British contribution to gambling history is considerably less than that of the French or Italians, or even the Americans, at least in terms of the number of inventions played today. The very term “gambling” (from the French gamen, “to play”) did not enter the English vocabulary until the mid-1600s. Gambling houses would close almost as quickly as they opened. One problem was that cheating was rampant in Britain in the 18th century. But that does not mean Britain has been without its important influences.
Games such as Hazard and Bragg had their days of glory, especially in the eight decades following 1660. Unfortunately, in 1740, antigambling legislation forced serious players completely out of the town of Bath, while communities elsewhere strove to shut down organised games of chance. As the number of gambling houses declined, players gradually moved their games to taverns, coffeehouses and chocolate shops, typically in “back rooms” separate from the dining facilities.
In 1765, one of those shops, White’s of London, hosted John Montagu, the fourth Earl of Sandwich, who played there for 24 hours straight. Unable to pull himself away from his game for a meal, Montagu ordered a waiter to bring him a piece of meat between two slices of bread. Other players followed suit, asking for “the same as Sandwich,” giving birth to the ubiquitous “sandwich” and arguably the concept of fast food.
But apart from this curiosity, Britain’s primary impact on gambling was the rise of the bookmaker, a term with an interesting history. When betting on team sports and horse racing became the rage in the mid-19th century, those who ran gambling clubs and back rooms would record all the wagers in books. The phrase “betting a book” came into vogue, and from there it was a short leap of language to “bookmaker,” which yielded the term “bookie” in 1885.
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