From Matty Merritt at Morning Brew:

Gambling on commercial flights has been illegal in the US since 1962, but there have been attempts to change the law over the last few decades. In 1991, US-registered cruise ships secured gambling rights, and a few smaller airlines such as Northwest Airlines and TWA attempted unsuccessfully to use the momentum to bring betting aboard their flights.

Mr. Meritt noted one unusccessful implementation of on-flight gambling:

Singapore Airlines attempted to put physical slot machines on a flight in 1981. It was popular, but the machines kept breaking.

[Source: Matty Merritt at Morning Brew (archived)]

I cannot think of anything commercial airliners need more than on-flight gambling. It should go well with on-flight booze to make flying a more pleasant experience for everyone. This news ties in nicely to my list of things I learned in 2024, in which I discussed learning about Washington D.C.’s official sports gambling partnership with FanDuel. Speaking of sports gambling, that was the subject of my 01-02-25 Thing I Learned.