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Online casino gaming has gone from strength to strength since the 1990’s – from just a handful of places on the burgeoning internet for players to get access to the casino games that they want to play when Microgaming was almost the only place creating these games to today, where you can find thousands of online casinos offering millions of games.
Also known as iGaming, online casino gaming includes virtual casinos, slot games, sports and live dealer games – all available online through PCs, laptops, and even smartphones and tablets. Players interested in exploring these experiences can try many exciting options at arab casino platforms.
Online Casino Gaming in the 1990s
Microgaming might have been the father of the modern casino game, but their efforts would have been in vain if it wasn’t for the Free Trade and Processing Zone Act being passed in 1994 in Antigua and Bermuda, essentially creating the only place in the world where companies could legally create online casinos. The Act allowed for the creation of licenses for online gaming companies.
Microgaming and similar companies had been working to create not only the games themselves, but also the technology to allow for the safe processing of payments and taking bets.
Alongside Antigua and Bermuda, Costa Rica became a haven for companies like these, and as it was around the time of the huge investment into the online space that was known as the dot com bubble, there was a lot of money to be made for those who were involved. In 1994, there were 15 casino websites, and by 1997, there were 200.
In this early world of online casino gaming, many players were in the US, where the restrictions on physical casino gambling didn’t reach the internet, making it largely unregulated with no legislation or rules.
The free-for-all market that was coming from the companies in Costa Rica, Antigua and Bermuda and allowing players in the US to get online and place wages or play casino games online with Bally Casino was generating hundreds of thousands of dollars annually. In fact, it is estimated that by 1998, the online casino market was with more than $830 million worldwide. The cynics among us might feel that the lost tax revenue from this is why the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act of 1999 almost became law in the US.
While that particular Act was not passed, it did start a new wave of regulation and legislation globally.
The 2000s and the Poker Stars
The Malta Gambling Authority was established in 2001 with the express intention of ensuring that online casino companies were treating their customers fairly and keeping data safe.
It was a little later that online poker became very popular, providing a platform where anyone with an internet connection and a little bit of talent for the game could take part in tournaments that might net them some impressive amounts of money.
It was Chris Moneymaker who really gave poker a stage, winning the World Series of Poker unexpectedly. From a satellite game to the bright lights of TV studios, the meteoric growth and popularity of online poker demonstrates perfectly how the online casino has grown – the same games we know and love but no longer limited by time or geography.
In 2005, the UK decided to bring all the casino establishments under one set of rules with the UK Gambling Act, which included the Gambling Commission. Now, any company that wants to offer casino gaming of any type, whether in person or online, must be licensed and regulated – offering people like you and me protection not only from bad actors who might steal our data, but also against unscrupulous companies that might seek to set us up for failure in unfair games.
Smartphones, VR and into the Future
The world shifted on its axis in 2007, and even Steve Jobs couldn’t have predicted the impact his iPhone would make on the world.
Smartphones are ubiquitous in our modern world. Smartphone penetration gets higher and higher every year, with even the poorest areas seeing more of their population getting access to the internet using some form of handheld device.
In terms of online casino gaming, our access to the games we want to play has never been easier. The most forward-thinking online casinos have created apps for iPhone and Android that are seamlessly connected to their websites, allowing players to enjoy a seamless experience wherever they are playing.
Now, we can play games wherever we can get an internet connection.
In the future, we can expect the development of a Metaverse-style Virtual Reality environment, where we can visit a casino and play games with other people in what is a 4D rendering, taking the live casino game to the next level. With the addition of blockchain to make games provably fair, and even crypto casinos taking borders away from gaming, there is a lot to come in the world of online casinos.