Between its first revival in 1771 and its last in 1871, The Gamester was performed more frequently on the London stage than any other Restoration or eighteenth-century tragedy. Most of these many performances, moreover, were given by Britain's finest actors and actresses. It should not be surprising, then, that the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century critics who witnessed these many fine performances thought, on the whole, highly of the acted play. Nor should it be surprising that the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century audiences – who also witnessed the performances of these many excellent actors and actresses – received The Gamester ‘with such genuine applause’.