Online casinos emerged from nothingness over two decades ago. Back in 1996, there were only 15 online gambling sites known to man. According to numbers released by CasinoScout.ca in 2018, the number of online casinos surged to over 2,700 platforms, which is a startling figure if you ask anyone. This shows that the rise of online casinos is unstoppable as there are more players now preferring to gamble from the comfort of their homes. In 2020, the popularity of online casinos increased immensely once more due to the coronavirus pandemic that saw many countries across the globe placed on lockdown for several months.
When It Started
1994 was the year the creation of online casinos started as the first-ever online casino was founded by a company on the Isle of Man. The casino was named MuchBetter Casino and it became an instant hit during that time. That same year, Antigua and Barbuda established the Free Trade & Processing Act which will allow the gambling organization to apply for licenses to create online casinos.
The online casino became a strange new world that gamblers were willing to explore due to their love for the game.
The 1990s
Another major development that helped the online casino world in the 1990s was the creation of secure online financial transactions, which was introduced by a company called CryptoLogicLimited from Canada in 1995. This software helped the online casinos offer not only a comfortable way to gamble but also a safe and secure place to invest your cash.
Following this introduction, many came up with the belief that online casinos are more secure than land-based casinos as you don’t have to worry about carrying a large amount of cash down to a casino at the time. By 1996, the number of online casinos increased to 15 before increasing once more to 200 by 1997. It became clear that the online casino was here to stay before the end of the 1990s as the number continues to increase along with its popularity at a higher rate.
As the number of sites continues to increase, the competition in the industry became strict. And with popularity, the profits also increase, which led the casinos to start offering the highest rewards to compete. This is where the idea of welcome bonuses started, as casinos continue to seek new ways to entice players into gambling with them.
Live Dealer Games
With time, online casinos started offering games in different styles and varieties that came with improved graphics, sound effects as well as improved gameplay. Online casinos continued to develop over the years before video streaming became a trend in the 2000s. This helped the online casinos develop and introduce live dealer games, which brought the brick and mortar casino experiences to live casino games. The advancement of technology saw this area of online casinos improve hugely.
Mobile Casinos
The emergence of smartphones saw the online casino industry come up with another innovation to increase the popularity of the sector as well as its online gambling experience. The availability of online casinos on mobile phones meant that gamble can be played anywhere and anytime as long as the phone is connected to the internet.
Mobile casinos slowly became a trend among many even the land-based casinos entered the fray to their websites become mobile-friendly while launching their apps.
Technology
It is undeniable that technology played an important role in bringing online casinos directly to people’s homes. The fast internet, online gaming technology, cutting-edge graphics, and seamless payment methods all made online casinos safe, secure, and exciting for gamblers across the world.
People who have been playing at online casinos in the past 10 years will understand how far casino games have come in terms of graphics, animation, usability, and many other things. Now we can gamble on the go.
Coronavirus Pandemic In 2020
The coronavirus pandemic offered new opportunities to the online gambling industry, while the land-based casinos decline. The rise in popularity of online casinos saw a huge growth in 2020 due to many people being on lockdown. We saw the rise of many online casino sites.
Online slot games became the most popular type of casino game across the world, as they soared in popularity due to the pandemic. Slot games are considered the simplest among casino games, and it is easy to understand. New slot games are being developed and released daily, they always come in different themes which helped in improving its popularity across the world.
Conclusion
With this, we can understand that online casinos will only continue to move forward with technology and in popularity. Online casinos are here to stay and they will continue to do for the years to come.
