Gambling in Mafia Novels

To gamble is to wager something -usually something of material value- on the results of events that have unpredictable outcomes. If circumstances conspire to prove a bettor correct, then this person stands to win back what they have wagered, and more. Of course, the gambling payout depends on what kind of game a person might choose to play as well as on how high the odds might be. If a person loses, the amount that they have wagered is considered forfeit, but regardless of how high the odds of a particular bet might be, it is often that elusive possibility for greater wealth that attracts people to return again and again to the gambling table.

Gambling is an incredibly popular pastime. People all over the world engage in different kinds of gambling activities, and one of the reasons why so many people gamble is because of the possibility of gaining back what a person has wagered, many times over. Casinos everywhere in the world have capitalized on this, and today, the gambling industry keeps the economic wheels of entire cities, such as Las Vegas in Nevada and Atlantic City in New Jersey, turning. It is a thirty billion dollar industry, and it continues to grow, exponentially.

Things were not always this way though. During the earlier part of the Twentieth Century, gambling in the United States, as well as in many other parts of the world, was outlawed. Despite that, gambling activities still took place, but this time, they happened clandestinely; usually run by underground entities, such as crime syndicates and mafia groups. Whether or not this is still the case today, gambling continues to have the subtle, oily gleam of the forbidden underneath the luxury and the glaring neon lights of many of today's casinos. Myths and legends of old have made mention of gambling, and today's books and movies carry on this tradition; incorporating the different ideas of what gambling and the casino industry is and should be like that have developed in public perception. Often, novels that involve the mafia -such as the book written by Nicholas Pileggi, entitled, "Casino"- make mention of how gambling establishments -such as the enterprise that serves as the novel's title, the casino- connected with the Italian Mafia or other crime syndicates. In many crime novels and other works in the noir genre, there is frequently mention of some form of gambling establishment; whether underground, or a legitimate business. It is perhaps the thrill of the forbidden; that possibility for danger depicted in such stories that attracts some people to casinos and other gambling outfits.