Online casinos are everywhere, and it can be said that players around the world have hundreds of online casinos to choose from. But how many people know the history of this relatively new form of entertainment? The first country to recognize the potential of online casinos and to start online casino management was Antigua and Barbuda in the Caribbean, which passed the Free Trade and Processing Act in 1994. To allow local casinos to be established and offer gambling services to other countries.
If people want to enjoy these casinos, they must have developed games first, and a number of software companies have emerged. One of the well-known software companies is Microgaming, which started in the industry in 1994 and is still going strong. They have over 600 casino games, and many of the biggest casino sites use their games, and the number keeps growing. As one of the pioneers of online casinos, Microgaming has always remained at the forefront of the industry.
It is often assumed that the first online casino was InterCasino, followed by 888, but both of these casinos started well after the rules and regulations for such sites were introduced, and we cannot confirm whether these views are correct. Another answer to who was the first online casino is Gaming Club, a site run by Microgaming itself and still in operation.
Following the success of Antigua and Barbuda, a number of other regions followed suit and began to develop their own licensing standards. In 1996, the Canadian Mohawk region of Carnawick passed local laws regulating the operation of online casinos. It turned out to be a successful move. Many casinos and sports betting sites, especially those targeting players in the Americas, hold this Kanawic gaming license. Some of the other regions that have issued licenses are Gibraltar, Malta, Channel Islands, Curacao, and Cyprus.
Just a few years after Gaming Club was launched, a large number of online casinos emerged, generating approximately $843 million in revenue in 1998. But technical limitations have prevented many potential players from joining. Old-fashioned dial-up connections are the main problem. Many people don't want to download software before playing a game. The advent of broadband internet has reversed this situation, allowing casinos to offer smooth, high-quality games directly without requiring players to download any software to their computers. In the past 5 years, there has also been a breakthrough in the mobile network, which has promoted the development of casinos on mobile devices, and players can play casino games on mobile phones and tablets.
Some high-street bookies that offer Telenet services quickly saw the opportunity offered by online casinos and began developing casinos, poker rooms, and sportsbooks. One of them is Intertops, which started as a betting company in 1983. The casino they now own is one of the largest online casinos, offering more than 4,000 sportsbooks daily to users in about 180 countries.
Poker sites had many problems in the early days, and connecting all the players was more complicated than a dial-up connection. Poker Planet didn't catch on until the early 2000s when sites like PokerStars, Party Poker, and Paradise Poker started. Party Poker was so successful that its parent company was listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2005. But that same year saw a setback in the U.S. market due to legal issues that all online gambling companies face.
One year the U.S. government decided to ban all non-U.S.-based online casinos. The court ruled that the law should not be passed. But since then, there has been some confusion as to whether casinos are legal. For safety reasons, many operators simply abandoned the US market. In fact, no one has ever been prosecuted for offering online gambling games to U.S. citizens, and many today say that the gambling industry should be welcomed and supported, and its taxes can lead to growth in government coffers.
Several other countries have fully legally regulated online gambling, including the European Union and South Africa. Not all casinos are doing well, however, with Russia outlawing all forms of online gambling in 2010.
The industry is maturing, with a large number of casinos listed on various stock exchanges around the world, and the gambling industry is gradually being recognized as another form of entertainment. With strict rules and regulations, malicious junk casinos are also greatly reduced.
The growth of online gambling has also allowed traditional land-based casinos to list online games to help maintain customers. From Las Vegas to London to Macau, billions of dollars have been poured into the industry, giving casino players who love to play more options.