"The Itch of Play rages like a Plague ... we are become a Nation of Gamesters" -- The London Magazine, 25 November 1737
Nearly every history of Georgian England mentions the "itch of gaming" that pervaded every level of society. From illegal gaming "hells" to the card-rooms of the Assembly Rooms to the races at Epsom and Newmarket, gaming on sports, games, and chance events was everywhere. While the most notorious gamesters were aristocrats - Charles James Fox and Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire were infamous for their deep play at all hours - the middling sort, too, enjoyed their flutters. Unlike their titled counterparts, however, middle-class people played in ways and situations that reflected the way they lived: with care, with restraint, and with friends and family.
Nearly every history of Georgian England mentions the "itch of gaming" that pervaded every level of society. From illegal gaming "hells" to the card-rooms of the Assembly Rooms to the races at Epsom and Newmarket, gaming on sports, games, and chance events was everywhere. While the most notorious gamesters were aristocrats - Charles James Fox and Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire were infamous for their deep play at all hours - the middling sort, too, enjoyed their flutters. Unlike their titled counterparts, however, middle-class people played in ways and situations that reflected the way they lived: with care, with restraint, and with friends and family.