All that wine, pasta and romance — what is there not to love about Italy? Breathtaking sceneries, the world’s cradle of fashion and the very original pizza, this country is on everyone’s dream list for obvious reasons. However, it is also on the bucket lists among the gamblers for some less obvious, but of equally important, reasons.

 1.The Oldest Casino in the World

 Although the first places to come to one's mind when talking about casinos are Las Vegas, Monte Carlo or Paris, the truth is that the heart of Italy hides the world’s oldest casino. City of canals, enchanting Venice, is also home of the oldest casino in the world. Located in the center of the city, Venice casino originally entitled “Il Ridotto” is over 400 years old, believed to be opened in 1638. To contextualize how antique it is, other famous historic casinos such as Kurhaus of Baden-Baden or Casino de spa in Belgium, are around 200 years old. Il Ridotto was associated with many political affairs and meddling of the government at the time, affairs and status boundaries that made it inaccessible for the common men. Soon after it was closed by the authorities in the late 18th century, illegal gaming clubs and gambling houses become increasingly popular among men of all ages. Only later, and ironically, when its name was finally cleared up, Il Ridotto was renamed into Casino di Venezia. In addition to its significance for the gambling history, Casino di Venezia is also a masterpiece of Renaissance architecture and therefore a very popular site-visit for many globetrotters.

 2. Etymology of the Term "Casino"

Nowadays, and particularly with all the online variations of gambling games, everyone tends to associate word “casino" with any place or platform where one goes to gamble. However, the true origin of this word is far more intriguing and complicated than this connotation. Considering that the word itself is Italian, it is only logical that it derived from Italy as well. In the most literal sense, casino means a small country house, deriving from “casa" and suffix “ino” used for diminutives in Italian language. Since the luxury and the glamour of casinos as we know them now, were nonexistent back in the days when most gambling took place in brothels, private clubs and other sorts of speakeasies, this terminology is fitting. Tellingly, yet confusingly, casino is also a name for a card game which originated in the 17th century - just when we thought that the exciting history of gambling couldn’t get more thought-provoking.

 4. From Lotto D’ Italia to Bingo

Soon to be 500 years ago, something known as lottery today, was played in Italy, then called "Lo Giuoco del Lotto D’Italia”. The game moved to France in the late 18th century, changing its name into ‘'Le Lotto’’ and gaining more international recognition which, even nowadays, poses wrong assumptions that the game is of French origin. Centuries later, the game traveled to North America and was renamed into “Beano”, deriving from a cheerful shouting of players when they found all numbers in a row. This game has been and still is used in many forms, from gambling houses, through fun pastime for the elderly at nursing homes, to classrooms as an education tool to teacher timetables, spelling and history.

 4. Baccarat - the Italian Game of Zeros

Although there are disputes whether this game originated in France or Italy, arguments widely go in favor to Italy. Therefore, besides Bingo, the world of gambling is extremely grateful and proud of Italians for inventing the genius, and very lucrative, game of Baccarat. Even older than Bingo, Baccarat was created by Felix Falguiere, who called the game “baccara” (translation: zero), simply due to the fact that all the face cards and tens are worth zero in the game. Baccarat spread quickly across the country and soon after across the whole continent. Once it stepped on the French soil, people named it Chemin de Fer, and as such, it caught attention of the King of France at the time, Charles the Eight. The King made this game exclusively aristocratic and unavailable for lower classes. However, later when the French travelers brought the game to England, it had become “people's game”. Today, it is suitable for anyone with the adrenaline rush and pockets full enough to take some serious risk.

 5. Betting on Sports

The growing popularity of gambling and betting historically led to the establishment of more betting venues and gambling regulations. With the concurrent raging popularity of sports in the country, particularly soccer, the authorities had no choice but to legalize all sorts of sports betting on Italian soil. Therefore, soccer is both to be blamed and blessed for nationwide spirit of gambling which, to this day, remains the most popular betting sport worldwide.

 Perhaps Las Vegas rings more bell to most casino fans than does any Italian city. However, any avid gambler should know the magnificent history of casino and the effect Italian culture had on its evolution. Obviously, gambling has been a considerable part of Italian lifestyle for a half of millennium, and it remains to be so.

 ROME – A team from the NATO defence college narrowly defeated the Pakistan Embassy squad in the annual Commonwealth Cricket Club Tournament, umpires said.

 The Pakistan Embassy batted first and scored 39, setting the NATO team a target of 40, which they achieved.

In the play-off for third place, the Commonwealth Club team defeated a UN agencies squad. In that play off the president of the Italian cricket federation and the manager of the Roma cricket ground scored 100 not out.

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