It is difficult to think that there is an entire generation which doesn’t know what it’s like to live without internet. The internet has changed almost every industry and gambling is not an exception. People would be surprised to know that online gambling existed pretty much throughout the 90s although not as sophisticated as now of course.
THE 90s
The first gambling websites started spawning around the mid 90s with the enactment of Free Trade and Processing Act in the country of Antigua and Barbuda. According to the act companies could get gambling licenses in the small Caribbean island. This Act gave way to an entire industry which was previously unknown. One of the first companies to jump on the ship was Microgaming, the website has gone on to become one of the most trusted brands when it comes to online gambling.
Another development which happened alongside coming up of Microgaming was the establishment of Kahnawake Gaming commission. There is no true fact when it comes to which site came up first, whether it was Microgaming or intercasino.
After these initial steps the online gambling industry saw a boom and that has been going on ever since. By the time 2016 ended there were about 15 online gambling sites and by the end of 2017 there were about 200, already the online gambling industry amounted to about 1Billion $.
THE PRESENT TIME
It goes without saying that back then the games were crude to today’s standards, although they were pretty good for that time. For example, when you log in to online casino raging bull, the experience is completely different as compared to what you have experienced a decade ago. There have been a plethora of sites which came, saw and went away. Rarely did any site from the mid 90s survived to this day. The market became extremely competitive, the race for the best experience, the best deals to attract customers, some even started offering free money to begin the poker journey with. Then came the advent of multiplayer games, people could actually see the person they were playing with, entire casino experiences got transferred online including themed events and such.
People can now play poker or any other game remotely from any device and from anywhere, this was unimaginable a decade ago, people don’t have to travel to Vegas to be able to play poker anymore. Although some countries are still on the edge about regulating online poker which is mainly because of the ties of the politicians with land casinos, this is pretty evident in the USA, but even there the talks are happening of legalizing the entire thing.
THE FUTURE AHEAD
Europe recently announced that online gambling is every adult’s right and along with them online poker industry has started lobbying US politicians to legalize the entire market. If and when this happens, the online gambling industry will see a second boom considering the market power a country like USA has.
Source – https://pixabay.com/photos/dice-chips-online-gambling-5012425/
