Today both online and land casino gambling are handled in an extremely professional manner. However, historically gambling has been associated with cheating and underhand dealings. This could be because for the most part gambling was illegal and outside the purview of regulation. The higher ranked the persons involved in the scandal, the more talked about it became. The Royal Baccarat Scandal of the 19th century involved the Prince of Wales himself.

In the late 19th century gambling was illegal in England, but such rules were meant for the commoners and not the aristocracy. The nobility regularly indulged in baccarat games at their high society parties. The Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VII, also joined in on many occasions. The Royal Baccarat Scandal refers to the events of September 8, 1890. The setting was Tranby Croft, the country house of the famous ship builder Sir Arthur William. Among the baccarat players were Sir William Gordon-Cumming and the Prince of Wales. Over the next two days Sir William Gordon-Cumming brazenly cheated by altering the chips that he had wagered in full view of the other players. He thought that no one would confront him giving his standing in the society. However, on September 10, some of the players took on Sir Gordon-Cumming and forced him to confess. They agreed not to go public and tarnish the reputation of Sir Gordon-Cumming only after he signed a pledge that he would never gamble again.

Such incidents can never be hushed up. The story went that the Prince of Wales was not happy at being cheated. Therefore he asked his mistress Lady Daisy Brooke, also known as Babbling Brook, to spread the story. The social reputation of Sir Gordon-Cumming was ruined. He filed a defamation suit against the original accusers for breaking their promise of keeping the matter under wraps. The Prince of Wales was not a defendant but he was named as a witness. The trial began on June 1, 1891 and the Prince was forced to appear in the witness box against his will. He admitted to playing baccarat, a game that was illegal under the law. The Queen's Army Regulations required that any officer of the army report the illegal action of another officer. Hence the Prince was required to report the illegal baccarat game and had to admit that he was at fault in this as well.

As things happened, this move by Sir Gordon-Cumming did not work out the way he wanted. After eight days of court hearing the jury cleared the defendants of all charges. The army was forced to act on the basis of the signed pledge and dismissed Sir Gordon-Cumming. However the incident did not end too badly for him. He married the American heiress Florence Garner, his longtime fiancée, the day after the trial. Old habits die hard and the Prince of Wales continued to gamble, but more discreetly.

Baccarat has been popularized by the James Bond movies. The Royal Baccarat Scandal also finds place in one of the movies - Moonraker. James Bond is assigned the task to catch Sir Hugo Drax cheating at bridge. M compares the potential publicity of the event to that of the Royal Baccarat Scandal.