https://olivialewis790.wixsite.com/divineslots/post/know-the-history-of-gambling-in-the-uk
Britons love betting, with an extensive history of gambling on horse races and other, less savory behaviour linking bears, badgers and bait. Usually, only members of the nobility were allowable to risk. Of course, this was forever as a personal wager between two parties, not walking into a gaming shop with fixed odds like current punters are used to.