Ridotto

Il Ridotto (Italian : "The Private Room") was a wing of Venice's Palazzo Dandolo near the church of San Moisè. In 1638, it was converted at the behest of Venice's city leaders into a government-owned gambling-house. Il Ridotto was the site of the West's first public, legal mercantile casino,^[1] opening several centuries after some gambling establishments in China.^[2]

^ Grabianowski, Ed. "How Casinos Work". How Stuff Works. Retrieved 2022-07-29. The Ridotto was important for two reasons -- it was the world's first government-sanctioned gambling house, and the first that was open to the general public.
^ For example: Lam, Desmond (2017) [2014]. Chopsticks and Gambling (reprint ed.). Abingdon: Routledge. ISBN 9781351528573. Retrieved 29 July 2022. Many specialized gambling organizations were established during the Tang Dynasty (618-907).

[1] Grabianowski, Ed. "How Casinos Work". How Stuff Works. Retrieved 2022-07-29. The Ridotto was important for two reasons -- it was the world's first government-sanctioned gambling house, and the first that was open to the general public.

[2] For example: Lam, Desmond (2017) [2014]. Chopsticks and Gambling (reprint ed.). Abingdon: Routledge. ISBN 9781351528573. Retrieved 29 July 2022. Many specialized gambling organizations were established during the Tang Dynasty (618-907).

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