The emergence of online casinos coincided with the start of the rapid development of the modern Internet in the early 90s of the last century. The idea was that people would want to gamble right from home. And web technologies made it possible to implement such an idea already at that time.
How says https://thebestcanadiancasinos.com/ the first step towards online gambling was taken by the British company Microgaming. It was she who opened the first online casino. It is noteworthy that the company has been gaining momentum every year and today it is the largest slot provider.
In the same year, an agreement was signed in Antigua and Barbuda regulating the activities of gambling websites. The tiny island nation immediately saw the prospect for online gambling.
Two years later, the number of online casinos developed by various companies on the Internet increased to 15. The demand for online gambling was growing rapidly, but the potential audience size was still limited.
The emergence of online bookmaking. The first to develop this direction was the InterTops company. As for online casinos, the number of sites in this area has grown to 200.
The year was marked by two remarkable events at once. First, a progressive slot was developed and introduced for the first time. Also this year the first big jackpot was won. The online gambling market has grown to $ 800 million a year.
Microgaming has created a specialized eCOGRA (eCommerce Online Gaming Regulation and Assurance) structure. This organization began to play the role of an intermediary between players and playgrounds, to resolve disputes between them, to protect the rights of users.
The turnover of the industry at this time on a global scale has already become estimated in billions of dollars.
Online casino marketers are starting to see such familiar things as bonuses and loyalty programs in their tools. The battle for the client begins.
American Chris Moneymaker has won the prestigious World Series of Poker. The trick is that according to the winner, he learned how to play so cool from absolute zero thanks to online poker sites. As a result, the traffic to poker sites, which was growing every day, increased significantly.
The rapid development of online gambling led to the fact that the attendance of land-based casinos began to decline. When this trend was noticed in Las Vegas, the US parliament passed legislation to ban online gambling. But banning is one thing, and preventing players from visiting online casino sites is another.
The first iPhone came out this year. It was not yet possible to install third-party applications on it, but the appearance of this device gave an increased impetus to the development of smartphones. The first Texas Holdem mobile app for iPhone was developed by Apple itself. It was impossible to play for real money in it, but the example is indicative. Especially considering that in 2019 Apple announced that it would block payments from its Apple Card credit cards in favor of online casinos and bookmakers.
The first mobile gambling game in which it was possible to play for real money was released in the same year by the same MicroGaming. It was a Baccarat game and it ran on the Spin3 platform.
In the same year, the first Live casinos with live dealers began to appear. Such establishments contribute to greater immersion in what is happening and are beginning to be in great demand.
The US authorities began to think about legalizing online gambling. The state of New Jersey was the first to meet business. Under the license of this state, 11 online gambling houses were opened, which began to pay income tax to the state.
Also this year, the volume of bets via mobile phones exceeded the $ 10 billion mark.
Following the advent of cryptocurrencies, the first licensed BitCasino casino was opened. It accepted funds and paid out winnings in bitcoins.
Mobile platforms began to abandon Flash technology, which powered most of the popular online casinos. Flash required too many resources of smartphones, which was unacceptable. Therefore, developers of sites and applications began to massively switch to HTML5.
The Spanish company, the leader among the developers of gambling, Red Rake has released the world's first slot with orbital reels.
The number of sites and applications for gambling is currently in the tens of thousands. Plus, hundreds of thousands of sites and other resources collect and redirect users to these casinos and bookmakers. Supply in many markets is already outstripping demand and competition for players is as high as ever.
At the same time, many markets have not yet been mastered. This is due to both the weak development of technology, such as in African countries, and the specifics of the legislation. Many countries are either tightening or simplifying the legal operation of online casinos on their territory.