The Casino Club Port Talbot in Wales  believed to be Britain's first legal casino  was established in 1961 by gambling mogul George Alfred James.

The disreputable nature of gambling as a vice was buttressed by prohibitive legislation. Laws to control and contain off-course betting, lotteries and sweepstakes were passed in 1823, 1845, 1856, 1906, 1934 and 1956 leaving most commercial gambling in the black economy until the Betting and Gaming Act (1960).