However, over time laws became stricter and casino activity died down. During the California Gold Rush in the 1850s, the city of San Francisco triumphed over New Orleans as the country’s largest gambling hub. When settlers discovered gold in California, a flush of aspiring prospectors headed out west looking to strike it rich.
The territories of the Wild West offered an unregulated frontier for casinos. Want a taste of the riverboat casino? Check out It wasn’t until the 1990s that states like Illinois and Louisiana again legalized riverboat casinos. Eventually, the riverboat casino industry died out after the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861. However, the law soon caught on, and in 1835 five casino gamblers were hanged for cheating in a card game. It didn’t take long for these vessels to attract professional card cheats onto the unregulated waters of the Mississippi. In the 1820s, riverboat casinos along the Mississippi attracted gamblers who played popular card games or placed bets on boat races.
In the 1820s, riverboat casinos became popular along the Mississippi River.
