History and Development of Online Casinos
First Portent
In 1994, the British company Microgaming created the first platform for a network gambling establishment, on which it was already possible to build a full-fledged online casino. There is no exact release date of the site that provided gambling for money but about 15 projects were there in 1996.
In 1994, Antigua and Barbuda issued a law so that one could legally obtain a license to provide gambling from this country.
In 1997, a first online betting office appeared and the largest corporations quickly saw the huge potential of the network gambling market. That’s when the gambling industry started to develop greatly.
Progressive Jackpot
A year later casinos got another know-how. It was progressive jackpot. And it stimulated the popularity of online casinos even more as a certain percentage of the money lost was accumulated in a single prize pool. And this pool could further be won by any instant play casinos!
Competition
Online gambling market drew a new player in 1999. A new and young player, Playtech, came to more the “old kings”, that are Microgaming and Cryptologic. The newcomer managed to burst into the gambling and fast became one of the most sought-after corporations in this market segment. This serious competition led to the increasing of the maximum winning. In 2001 the record was $415k and a year later it was $1.5 million. Now it’s easy to win even $10 million there.
Safety
This newly formed market segment was not regulated by the authorities and the gamblers could rely only on the decency and honesty of the casinos. In 2002, the eCOGRA (eCommerce Online Gaming Regulation and Assurance) was formed. And it was the eCOGRA that took the responsibility of creating common standards in the online gambling industry, certification of online casinos and advocating for the interests of instant play casinos. Another guarantee of honesty is PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), that is one of the four most rated auditors on the planet.
First Problems
The year 2003 set the bar for the online casinos very high as the total turnover of all online casinos in the world exceeded the $8.5 billion and the biggest part of this amount of money was received from the United States. The USA had been wanting to promote the bill on regulating online gambling for a long time, but in 2006, the current president of the country, George Bush, made a very eradicative decision. He forbade gambling on the Internet on the legislative level. The democrats tried to cancel this decree but the real movement has started only recently. It was another push for the online casinos.
Current prospects
Nowadays there are more than 15 thousand gambling facilities online. The range of services offered is several times higher than the list of available games in usual gambling houses. And in addition, some online casinos support the game with the real-time croupiers.
Online gambling is still banned in many countries. Yes, there is a dark side here. Some people have ludomania or gambling addiction and the availability of casino can make it even worse. But on the bright side, the legalization of the online casinos can attract more money to the government coffers.
In 1994, the British company Microgaming created the first platform for a network gambling establishment, on which it was already possible to build a full-fledged online casino. There is no exact release date of the site that provided gambling for money but about 15 projects were there in 1996.
In 1994, Antigua and Barbuda issued a law so that one could legally obtain a license to provide gambling from this country.
In 1997, a first online betting office appeared and the largest corporations quickly saw the huge potential of the network gambling market. That’s when the gambling industry started to develop greatly.
Progressive Jackpot
A year later casinos got another know-how. It was progressive jackpot. And it stimulated the popularity of online casinos even more as a certain percentage of the money lost was accumulated in a single prize pool. And this pool could further be won by any instant play casinos!
Competition
Online gambling market drew a new player in 1999. A new and young player, Playtech, came to more the “old kings”, that are Microgaming and Cryptologic. The newcomer managed to burst into the gambling and fast became one of the most sought-after corporations in this market segment. This serious competition led to the increasing of the maximum winning. In 2001 the record was $415k and a year later it was $1.5 million. Now it’s easy to win even $10 million there.
Safety
This newly formed market segment was not regulated by the authorities and the gamblers could rely only on the decency and honesty of the casinos. In 2002, the eCOGRA (eCommerce Online Gaming Regulation and Assurance) was formed. And it was the eCOGRA that took the responsibility of creating common standards in the online gambling industry, certification of online casinos and advocating for the interests of instant play casinos. Another guarantee of honesty is PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), that is one of the four most rated auditors on the planet.
First Problems
The year 2003 set the bar for the online casinos very high as the total turnover of all online casinos in the world exceeded the $8.5 billion and the biggest part of this amount of money was received from the United States. The USA had been wanting to promote the bill on regulating online gambling for a long time, but in 2006, the current president of the country, George Bush, made a very eradicative decision. He forbade gambling on the Internet on the legislative level. The democrats tried to cancel this decree but the real movement has started only recently. It was another push for the online casinos.
Current prospects
Nowadays there are more than 15 thousand gambling facilities online. The range of services offered is several times higher than the list of available games in usual gambling houses. And in addition, some online casinos support the game with the real-time croupiers.
Online gambling is still banned in many countries. Yes, there is a dark side here. Some people have ludomania or gambling addiction and the availability of casino can make it even worse. But on the bright side, the legalization of the online casinos can attract more money to the government coffers.
