Today’s forms of gambling are more advanced than ever, with the ability to play online or via apps from the comfort of our own sofas. What’s more, the use of immersive technologies like Virtual Reality headsets are enabling us to bridge the gap between the physical and online worlds by immersing the user in a whole new interactive gaming experience. As gambling becomes more widely accepted and advanced, it is easy to forget where it first began.

Ancient Greece is well known for creating the concept for the Olympic games; however, the culture had other important influences as it is thought that gambling emerged in ancient Greece and Rome; these civilizations valued the idea of luck and games of chance and would often divulge in simple games like heads and tails, coin toss or dice games. Similarly, to today’s society where we consider it lucky to roll some dice with doubles, the ancient Greeks also lived by this and used the rolling of doubles as a sign of winning a game; this was called ‘the throw of Aphrodite’. Many would also be surprised that the game of poker is thought to have originated amongst the Ancient Minoan civilization more than 3,500 years ago.

The morality of gambling amongst the Greeks

Today, there are mixed views on gambling with some viewing it as a vital part of the economy, some view it as harmless entertainment and others view it as a bad habit that should be discouraged. The Greeks were similar in their mixed opinions on gambling with parts of society actively participating in it, while others would cast shame on the act and call for it to be banned.

Like us, the ancient Greeks had designated places where people would go to gamble, although many of these places were kept secret as they were cast in shame. It was mainly the Greek scholars of the times that opposed this activity, in which they went as far as calling gambling a plague that was spreading throughout the ancient society. The government also had to step in with measures to discourage gambling as it began to get out of control.

On the other hand, as ancient scriptures and artifacts show us, gambling was a huge part of Greek society. The ancient Greek poet Homer; known for writing Odyssey, was well known for his support of gambling, but most of all the gods of Olympus supported it. While Hermes and Pan were both known for placing wagers, the brothers Hades, Zeus, and Poseidon were thought to have used dice games to decide how to split the universe amongst themselves.

What forms of gambling did the Greeks participate in?

One of the most loved games of Ancient Greece was said to be Heads and Tails. This was first played with shells until coins were invented, making it easier to see which side was the winning one. Another popular coin game was Pitch and Toss which involved throwing coins at the wall. They also played chequers, although at the time this was called Tillia and was later referred to as ‘the game of 12 lines’ in ancient Rome.

There was also a game called Par Impar Ludere which involved one player holding a handful of small objects, while the other had to guess whether the amount was odd or even. While these games are down to chance, the ancient Greeks believed that games of chance were in the hands of the gods and that they ultimately controlled the outcome.

They also practiced betting on things like animal fighting, in which ancient Greek pottery can be seen to display scenes of people betting on dog, chicken and other bird fights.

Modern day gambling in Greece

Today, gambling is still popular throughout Greece and is legal in licensed venues, with casinos being found in the major cities. Many of the islands also cater to gambling to tourists too. One of the most famous casinos in Greece is thought to be the luxurious Mont Parnes Regency Casino, which can be found in Athens.

Greeks are also able to participate in online gambling, in which they can access the huge variety of offshore establishments that are available. Today, citizens have the luxury of choosing from a whole variety of games, those who play poker games are spoilt for choice with Texas Hold'em, Omaha and 7 card stud just some of the games on offer. Today, there are also modern variants of gambling that the Greeks have created, including ‘Greek hold'em’. 

Overall, gambling is deeply rooted in the history of ancient Greece and while there were mixed feelings over the morality of gambling, it cannot be erased from the ancient scriptures and artifacts that live on as evidence of these traditions today. While great scholars of the times may have also opposed such activity, even the great gods were involved and were even thought to have controlled the odds.

The development of gambling in Greek’s ancient civilizations have no doubt shaped the industry that lives on today.