Gambling Lovers and Reputable Gamblers with Greatest Influence in Society?

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Posted: August 6, 2015

Updated: August 6, 2015

From famous philosophers through writers to painters. Who would say that they are also some of the most reputable gamblers and gambling lovers in history?

The stereotypes about gamblers today are inevitably based on the connection between gambling and criminal. However these perspectives on gamblers and gambling in general have started to change, gambling news report. Today more and more people consider gambling to be first of all a source of entertainment that can occasionally boost their pockets.


• Rene Descartes wanted to start a career as gambler
• Casanova was not successful only in seducing
• If it wasn’t the lotto there might not be the Monet we now

The biggest Poker tournaments are available for the TV audience practically all day long which also contributed to a significant extent in the transformation of the stereotypical picture about gambling. However once the picture about gambling and gamblers was quite different. Gambler was an attribute that in the early modern period for example brought a scent of “high-class”. This GamingZion article looks for passionate gamblers that are considered to be “the finest” in the history of humanity and whose influence in our culture is simply priceless.

Michel de Montaigne

Michel de Montaigne

The essayist philosopher was a predator at the green tables

Michel de Montaigne’s Essays are some of the mandatory readings for anybody interested in the Renaissance period, especially in the renaissance philosophy. He is practically the father of Essayistic, a style widely used by contemporary writers. What is not well known about him however is that he was a passionate gambler and one with a big reputation in the French Society of the 16th century. His high reputation was partly due to the statesman activities he was engaged with, and partly from the luxurious life he led. Nowadays Montaigne is taken to be the founder of Modern Skepticism too. His influence on the philosophers from the 17 century who started the modern era, like Rene Descartes and Blaise Pascal, is beyond any question.

Rene Descartes

The influence that Montaigne had on the great French philosopher, mathematician and physicist Rene Descartes was more than philosophical. Namely, as gambling news emphasize, Rene Descartes, who lived from 1596 to 1650, had the ambition to make a career out of gambling after going to the military. However this decision of his was not put into practice. Soon after, he wrote some of the most important books in modern philosophy, devoting himself entirely to investigating the conditions for clear and distinct knowledge. Yet the love for gambling was always there. He continued to gamble throughout his life and some even report that his favorite gambling partner was the Swedish queen Kristina herself.

Giacomo Casanova de Seingalt

Casanova portrait painting

Adored by women, lucky in gambling, a secret spy – A true James Bond of his age

The first association when we speak about Casanova today is that of a tireless lover and seducer. However Casanova was far more than that. He was a distinguished member of his society, avid gambler, author and lawyer. One of his life-wishes was to become a professional gambler. However he soon changed his mind since according to his words he “lacked the prudence to leave off when fortune was adverse,” as well as the sufficient control over himself when he had won. As online casinos in France report some of his favorite games noted by the historians were the lotteries, faro, basset, piquet, biribi, primero, quinze. He was a religious person however, a devout catholic, but yet an extremely peculiar person. Prince Charles de Ligne had said about Casanova that “there is nothing in the world of which he is not capable.”

Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Dostoevsky painting

Much of his work was inspired and motivated by gambling

If there are personalities in gambling of historical dimensions, then Fyodor Dostoyevsky is definitely in that category. He is not only the most influential Russian writer of all time but also considered among many to be one of best writes in human history. His novels such as Crime and Punishment, Idiot, Notes from the Underground or The Gambler are listed among the finest pieces of literature that human kind has created. According to some biographical sources, Dostoyevsky decided to write faster the last section of Crime and Punishment and publish the book just in order to settle his gambling debts. He was known to be a passionate gambler and the activity was most of the time, if not direct, an indirect motive for his writings. According to many, the deep psychological description that can be found in his books are just an extension of his experience of human characters on the gambling tables.

Claude Monet

old Claude Monet photograph

Monet used his winnings to dedicate himself to art

Not many would believe that there is a connection between Claude Monet and gambling. However, there is one. Claude Monet, one of the founders of Impressionism in France used his gambling winnings to quit his job as a messenger and devote himself entirely to painting. As online gambling sites in France report, he was a keen lottery player that in 1891 won around French Francs 100,000 (USD 13,000). This amount of money was enough for Monet to withdraw to a village property he bought, where he dedicated his time to his art. There he painted one of the most beautiful pictures in the history of art “The Water Lilies,” presented today in the Musee de l’Orangerie in Paris.

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