The history of online casinos is still short but very rich.
- It is full of significant discoveries and exciting innovations introduced.
- There were severe conflicts between gambling websites' owners and authorities.
- A new class of scams appeared to reach certain heights.
In general, online gambling is alive and actively growing.
But let's begin our story with the first steps casinos made on the world wide web.
Online Gambling Origins
Of course, developers knew the technology of creating online casinos much earlier than the first websites with gambling games appeared on the Internet. But it happened only in 1994 when Antigua and Barbuda passed the Free Trade Act, allowing companies worldwide to open online casinos legally.
In the same year, the first software for online gambling was manufactured. It was Microgaming that became the pioneer in the industry. A year later, Cryptologic started producing its software. The first online casino, the famous Kent casino, successfully operating today, welcomed its clients in 1994.
Of course, the variety and quality of games at that time were a far cry from the current range. For example, in 1997, Microgaming casino offered only these games:
- standard blackjack,
- Jacks or Better video poker,
- baccarat,
- a one-line slot with a progressive jackpot,
- a three-line slot,
- a five-line video slot,
- European roulette,
- American roulette with two zeros
- craps,
- Caribbean stud poker.
Compare that range with the current Microgaming portfolio offered in Spin Palace, Drip casino, and other reliable online casinos.
Online Gambling Problems and Their Solutions
The Internet was flooded with various online casinos in the next few years. Many owners preferred to stay in the shadows, and the government tried to close these places.
Needless to say, that fraud flourished in this industry. Owners of some online casinos cheated customers. Hackers broke the servers and stole casinos' and players' money. In those years, there were many stories about such crimes on specialized forums.
So, online gambling pioneers (Microgaming and Cryptologic) had enough problems. Gradually, they developed an encryption mechanism that can reliably protect the personal data of customers of online casinos. Graphics games became more realistic and colorful. The speed significantly increased, and the cost was reduced, making it affordable for Internet users, so downloading casino software does not require a long time and money.
Playing at internet casinos for real money requires certain guarantees of honesty of online casinos. Gambling operators began to cooperate with well-known independent auditing companies, such as the following organizations:
- PriceWaterhouseCoopers,
- eCOGRA,
- Technical System Testing, and others.
Online casinos gradually became more reliable and affordable.
Relations with Authorities
Let's point out several important events in the history of internet gambling regarding the relations between casino owners and authorities.
- In 1996, Canada founded Kahnawake Gaming Commission, which operated by the law on gambling in Kahnawake. This organization is still successfully licensing online casinos.
- In a few years, the Republicans tried to pass an Act prohibiting gambling on the Internet. It was to prohibit illegal activities of companies offering similar services online to U.S. residents. This law didn't die, and the revenue of online casinos reached $ 800 million that year.
- In 1999, another unsuccessful attempt to promote this bill was made. Then, more than 700 online casinos offered to play on money.
- In 1999, Boss Media released software supporting multiplayer. From now on, players can not only play at the same table but also talk with each other. At the same time, the first progressive jackpot was launched by Microgaming.
- In 2000, Republicans again suffered a setback in their efforts to adopt the Act to ban gambling on the Internet. In 2001 about eight million people played online for real money,
- That year was marked by the fact that Australia prohibited online casinos from providing services to its citizens and Nevada licensed institutions from operating outside the state.
- In 2004, a player from the United States won more than four hundred thousand dollars in Sands of the Caribbean casino, making many gamblers reconsider their attitude to online playing.InternetItaly was the first European country to ban its citizens from playing in online casinos licensed outside.
- Opponents of online gambling in the U.S. succeeded in 2007 when the famous UIGEA (Unlawful Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act) was passed, prohibiting residents of the United States from playing at online casinos. As a result, many American casinos were closed, while others moved their servers to offshore zones.
We told you about it in more detail in a separate article on Casinoz called Licensing online casinos, so we will not go into detail on this topic.
Advantages of Online Casinos
Even now benefits of online casinos are much greater than the disadvantages. Their main drawback is the inability to convey the atmosphere of real gambling clubs on computer monitors or smartphone screens. Experienced players who spent many years in traditional casinos exceedingly regret it. But there is no doubt that the new generation, from childhood familiar with computers, will prefer online casinos.
Earlier criticism was about insufficient protection of financial transactions, the inability to verify the integrity of gambling websites, primitive software, and some other aspects. But in recent years, the world's largest developers have eliminated all these gaps.
But benefits from online casinos are apparent, and the list can be very long. The most significant are these:
- no extra expenses,
- availability 24/7,
- a vast choice of games,
- pretty high RTPs in many games,
- fabulous bonuses and promotions,
- wide bet ranges, etc.
You should play at an online casino at least once. You will see all the benefits yourself.
The Future of Online Gambling
It's difficult to say which way online casinos will develop in the future. Each software vendor already has a trump card up its sleeve; they will show it to the world at the best time. Anyway, there is no doubt that they will continue to develop games with live dealers to maximize the atmosphere of land-based casinos.
The games' realism level and the range of available depositing and withdrawing funds will also increase. New types of bonuses, tournaments, and promotions constantly appear. And developers will never stop improving the system to protect their servers.
Gambling people will always look for ways to satisfy their passion. If they can not do it legally, they will find alternatives. With technological advances, casinos predictably moved online, and it's hard to interfere with this process. The level of reliability and service gets higher. Players can only hope that's the way it will ever be.