The beginning of legalized gambling in the United States (aside from perhaps some legal Bingo or Bean-O) would become official on March 19th, 1931, when then Governor of Nevada, Fred Balzar, would make a wide variety of games legal in the state.Īs we see with other states who have legalized various forms of gambling, or expanded upon already legal ones, the notion that taking gambling out of the back alleys and hidden backrooms and putting it front-and-center might decrease gambling-related crime and would also be a substantial revenue driver for the state. In the frontier days, you could find unregulated card games going on just about everywhere, and we spoke about Deadwood, South Dakota, at-length, in that state’s page. Of course, I put an emphasis on the legalized in legalized gambling, because Nevada was hardly the first place to be known for gambling in the country. Nevada is the pioneer for legalized gambling in the United States of America, and it shows, as it remains the #1 destination for gamblers based in the United States.