In the year 2021, living without the internet is virtually unimaginable. The internet is over two decades old, meaning an entire generation has never known life without it.
They can’t even comprehend life before the Internet. Online gambling has been around as long as the internet.
The internet has paved the path for numerous online businesses, including gambling. There are now internet gaming sites from practically every nation. These include internet casinos, sportsbooks, and information portals for sites all around the globe.
Casinos began in the Wild West, when cowboys played poker, roulette, and blackjack, and it is now enjoyed globally on mobile devices.
Earlier: 1990s
Online casinos appeared in the 1990s. It was a period when the internet was financially viable, allowing many land-based enterprises to go online. One of the first industries to profit was gaming.
The first online casino is said to have started in 1994, but no one knows for sure which one it was or whether it still exists. We know that Microgaming, a major online gambling software company, helped establish the first online gambling site alongside Cryptologic. In that year, Antigua & Barbuda established the Free Trade & Processing Act, allowing online gaming firms to get licenses and build offices there. This licensing jurisdiction now has a bad reputation.
In only one year, from 1996 to 1997, there were 200 internet gaming sites. Since then, gaming websites have grown in popularity.
The games were primitive by today’s standards, yet efficient by 1990’s ones. In the past, there were no third-party auditors or groups to maintain the standards in place. No surprise the early internet casinos didn’t last. The earliest still running are from 1997 or 1996, although just a few persist.
Online poker sites appeared around 1998. The online gambling sector was valued $830 million as early as this year. Then in 1999 came multiplayer online gambling, allowing for more player interaction and spawning the current MMOPRG craze, a billion dollar business with no signs of slowing down.
Modernization
Since then, several sites have had an impact on the sector. Some of them developed, while others regressed, becoming industry villains. Top-notch websites tailored for any mobile device conceivable without the need to download a casino app perform as well as if visited via a native app.
Those unfamiliar with the events of 20 years ago would be dissatisfied with the games’ appearance and software’s operation. It wasn’t quite the same as today, but being able to play real-money casino games from home was remarkable. You may now play casino games whenever, anywhere.
A competitive market emerged shortly. In the 2000s, new operators changed the deals, bonuses, games, and loyalty programs. Online casinos were always enhancing their features.
Progressive jackpots appeared, multiplayer games appeared, themed slots and live casinos appeared, and everyone got more interested in online gambling. Today’s mobile casinos are certainly the icing on the cake. Since the first iPhone, avid gamblers have wished for the ability to wager online on their smartphone or tablet wherever they go.
Most pleased clients are poker players who may enter World Series of Poker events by winning satellite contests at the top online poker networks.
Despite the fact that internet gambling produces billions of dollars yearly, several governments refuse to regulate it due to parliamentarians’ tight links to the land-based casino business. This was the most noteworthy US case. Even with the initiatives to legalize internet gambling, things are looking up. In 2018, online gambling was valued over $56 billion, and the USA would want a piece of it!