Gambling Trivia Quiz Questions With Answers

Trivia quiz questions with answers about gambling.

Gambling Trivia Quiz Questions With Answers

What is gambling?
A: Gambling is the wagering of money or something of value (referred to as "the stakes") on an event with an uncertain outcome, with the primary intent of winning money or material goods.

Gambling requires what three elements be present?
A: Consideration, risk (chance), and a prize.

The outcome of the wager is often what?
A: Immediate, such as a single roll of dice, a spin of a roulette wheel, or a horse crossing the finish line, but longer time frames are also common, allowing wagers on the outcome of a future sports contest or even an entire sports season.
The term "gaming" in this context typically refers to instances in which the activity has been specifically permitted by law.

The two words are not mutually exclusive; i.e., a "gaming" company offers (legal) "gambling" activities to the public and may be regulated by what?
A: One of many gaming control boards, for example, the Nevada Gaming Control Board.

However, this distinction is not universally observed where?
A: In the English-speaking world.

For instance, in the United Kingdom, the regulator of gambling activities is called what?
A: The Gambling Commission (not the Gaming Commission).

The word gaming is used more frequently since the rise of computer and video games to describe activities that do not necessarily involve what?
A: Wagering, especially online gaming, with the new usage still not having displaced the old usage as the primary definition in common dictionaries.

Gambling is also a major international commercial activity, with the legal gambling market totaling how much money?
A: An estimated $335 billion in 2009.

In other forms, gambling can be conducted with materials which have a value, but are not what?
A: Real money.

For example, players of marbles games might wager what?
A: Marbles.

Gambling dates back to what period, before written history?
A: Paleolithic period.

In Mesopotamia the earliest six-sided dice date to about when?
A: 3000 BC.

In China, when were gambling houses widespread?
A: In the first millennium BC, and betting on fighting animals was common.

Lotto games and dominoes (precursors of Pai Gow) appeared in China as early as when?
A: The 10th century.

When did playing cards appear in China?
A: In the ninth century.

Records trace gambling in Japan back at least as far as when?
A: The 14th century.

What is the most popular U.S. card game associated with gambling?
A: Poker.

What is poker derived from?
A: The Persian game As-Nas, dating back to the 17th century.

What was the first known casino?
A: The Ridotto, which started operating in 1638 in Venice, Italy.

Many jurisdictions, local as well as national, either ban gambling or heavily what?
A: Control it by licensing the vendors.

Such regulation generally leads to what?
A: Gambling tourism and illegal gambling in the areas where it is not allowed.

The involvement of governments, through regulation and taxation, has led to a close connection between many governments and what?
A: Gaming organizations, where legal gambling provides significant government revenue, such as in Monaco or Macau, China.

There is generally legislation requiring that the odds in gaming devices are statistically random, to prevent manufacturers from making what?
A: Some high-payoff results impossible.

Since these high-payoffs have very low probability, a house bias can quite easily be missed unless the odds are what?
A: Checked carefully.

Most jurisdictions that allow gambling require participants to be what?
A: Above a certain age.

In some jurisdictions, the gambling age differs depending on what?
A: The type of gambling.

In many American states one must be over 21 to enter a casino, but may buy a lottery ticket after turning how old?
A: 18.

Ancient Hindu poems like the Gambler's Lament and the Mahabharata testify to what?
A: The popularity of gambling among ancient Indians.

However, the text Arthashastra (c. 4th century BCE) recommends what?
A: Taxation and control of gambling.

Ancient Jewish authorities frowned on gambling, even disqualifying professional gamblers from what?
A: Testifying in court.

The Catholic Church holds the position that there is no what?
A: No moral impediment to gambling, so long as it is fair, all bettors have a reasonable chance of winning, that there is no fraud involved, and the parties involved do not have actual knowledge of the outcome of the bet (unless they have disclosed this knowledge).

Gambling views among Protestants vary with some doing what?
A: Either discouraging or forbidding their members from participation in gambling.

Methodists oppose gambling which they believe is a what?
A: A sin that feeds on greed.

While almost any game can be played for money, and any game typically played for money can also be played just for fun, some games are generally offered in what setting?
A: A casino setting.

Gambling games that take place outside of casinos include what?
A: Bingo (as played in the US and UK), dead pool, lotteries, pull-tab games and scratchcards, and Mahjong.

Fixed-odds betting and Parimutuel betting frequently occur at many types of what?
A: Sporting events, and political elections.

In addition many bookmakers offer fixed odds on a number of what?
A: Non-sports related outcomes, for example the direction and extent of movement of various financial indices, the winner of television competitions such as Big Brother, and election results.

One of the most widespread forms of gambling involves betting on what?
A: Horse or greyhound racing.

Wagering may take place through what?
A: Parimutuel pools, or bookmakers may take bets personally.

Parimutuel wagers pay off at prices determined by support in what?
A: The wagering pools, while bookmakers pay off either at the odds offered at the time of accepting the bet; or at the median odds offered by track bookmakers at the time the race started.

Betting on “what” has become an important service industry in many countries?
A: Team sports.

In addition to organized sports betting, both legal and illegal, there are many side-betting games played by casual groups of spectators, such as what?
A: The NCAA Basketball Tournament Bracket Pools, Super Bowl Squares, Fantasy Sports Leagues with monetary entry fees and winnings, and in-person spectator games like Moundball.

What is arbitrage betting?
A: It is a theoretically risk-free betting system in which every outcome of an event is bet upon so that a known profit will be made by the bettor upon completion of the event, regardless of the outcome.

Arbitrage betting is a combination of the ancient art of arbitrage trading and gambling, which has been made possible by what?
A: By the large numbers of bookmakers in the marketplace, creating occasional opportunities for arbitrage.

Betting exchanges allow consumers to do what?
A: Both back and lay at odds of their choice.

Similar in some ways to a stock exchange, a bettor may want to back a horse (hoping it will win) or do what?
A: Lay a horse (hoping it will lose, effectively acting as bookmaker).

Spread betting allows gamblers to wager on what?
A: The outcome of an event where the pay-off is based on the accuracy of the wager, rather than a simple "win or lose" outcome.

For example, a wager can be based on the when a point is scored in the game in minutes and each minute away from the prediction does what?
A: Increases or reduces the payout.

Many betting systems have been created in an attempt to do what?
A: "Beat the house".

Insurers use actuarial methods to calculate appropriate premiums, which is similar to doing what?
A: Calculating gambling odds.

Insurers set their premiums to obtain a long term positive expected return in the same manner that professional gamblers select what?
A: Which bets to make.

What are usually not considered gambling?
A: Investments, although some investments can involve significant risk.

Examples of investments include what?
A: Stocks, bonds and real estate.