A closer look at online gambling

Online gambling, also referred to as Internet gambling has been around since the early 1990s and year on year, it is growing in popularity among Internet users all of the time. Believe it or not but it was in 1994, in Antigua and Barbuda that first allowed licenses to be granted for online casinos. It was thanks to an online security company called CryptoLogic that safe transactions became a reality and led the way to the opening of the first few online casinos. In 1996, the Kahnawake Gaming commission issued gaming licenses to many of the world’s online casinos and this ensured that these casinos were regulated and kept fair and transparent.

Gaining Popularity

Online gambling became more popular in the late 1990s as there were only 15 websites in 1996 and this jumped to over 200 websites in 1997! When 1998 came around, it was estimated that online gambling revenues had made over $830 million alone! In 1999, multiplayer online gambling was introduced and this enabled players to gamble, and chat with each other as they gambled online. Incredibly, by 2001, the number of people gambling online was estimated to be 8 million! This makes perfect sense when you consider multiplayer online gambling only be introduced and the advent of internet gaming had occurred at the same time. In 2008, it was estimated that worldwide online gambling revenue was over a staggering $21 Billion and it is estimated that by 2018 this figure will rise to over $56 Billion!

Forms of online gambling

Online gambling comes in many shapes and forms and it is now one of the most lucrative businesses ever on the internet. Games that are quite popular that people gamble online include online poker, live casinos, online bingo, horse racing, mobile gambling, and in-play gambling. Some of these games have a nice twist on them to entice players to gamble online. For instance, in online poker, players play against each other rather than against the house. A lot of online casinos now have Live Casino departments to cater for players who like that bricks and mortar feel of a real casino, while playing straight from the comfort of their own home.

Online Bingo has also exploded in the past few years and the main reason why a lot of bingo halls are deserted and half-empty these days as players opt to play Bingo over the Internet instead. Another form of online gambling that is growing exponentially is the national lottery. This makes perfect sense as players can choose their numbers online and pay for it that way rather than having to go to the shop, pick some numbers and then pay for it at a till. National Lotteries also allow players to pick their numbers in advance and pay for it so they never miss out on buying their tickets again. A very clever way of taking advantage of online gambling there.

Mobile gambling has also seen a huge surge in numbers in the past few years as players can gamble while on the go with their mobile device. Bookmakers and casinos are well aware of this and provide apps, exclusive promotions and easy ways of placing bets to cater for these players. Online gambling shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon and it will be fascinating to see how companies keep this strong growth going in the near future.