Lord Kelvin? More like Lord Smellvin...

Well now, the 99 things are still around. After a year long hiatus it is time to revive the slowly dying body of work here on the internet.

However, Lord Kelvin is stupid. I blame Ryan for this, as he is the original author of the list; but in any case, Kelvin will be replaced by a new topic: Gambling.

4. Gambling
Gambling is the wagering of money or some other good of material value on an event of uncertain outcome with the intent to win more money or material goods.

Gambling is an enormous economic market, representing $335 billion worldwide in 2009. The majority of modern gambling originates from casinos in Europe and China. Craps, baccarat, roulette, and blackjack all hail from the Continent, while keno and pai gow emerged from the East.

The Chinese are the earliest in record to have established gambling, as far back as 2300 BCE, but it is likely to have existed even before then. In Europe, the Ridotto was established in Venice in 1638 to provide organized gambling during the Carnival season, but was closed in 1770 (it was believed to have been impoverishing the gentry class). Perhaps the most famous casino for modern day people is the Monte Carlo.

Gambling, in almost every major world market, is restricted to people who are of age for their respective countries.

It is also awesome.

I've been struggling for about ten minutes trying to find a way to sum up how gambling can make one feel, and have been failing miserably. The only comparison I can come up with, ridiculous as it sounds, is combat and hunting. For the gambler, nothing beats the surge of adrenaline that comes from knowing you hold a winning hand, or from bluffing your way to victory. Gambling is Contest for those who don't necessarily want to batter themselves against other people on a football field.

Gambling lets you know that you are alive. It focuses you in on the moment, so that time sometimes seems to slow as the dealer flips over the next card, or someone pushes their stacks to the middle of the table in challenge.

Of course, there is usually a crash involved at some point. For the casual gambler sitting at a poker table, there inevitably comes a moment when the last card is turned, your heart races to a beat you might hear in a trance club, and then your stomach lurches to a halt as your opponents face lights up in a grin as he shows you his full house.

Having experienced a few of these crashes myself, I would still suffer through them time and time again for the pure exhilaration of the game.