Without online casinos, the internet might have been very different
Online Casinos first appeared in the very early age of the internet (the 1990s), since then they have transformed into a system that some say is better than real casinos. They offer players a chance to play from the comfort of their homes, at any time of the day, and from anywhere in the world.
What is interesting about online casinos is that they changed both the way websites were built and the way that the internet was regulated. Today, we are going to explore how online casinos changed the internet, but first, a little history of online casinos.
A history of online casinos and gambling
While traditional casinos can be traced as far back as the Indus Valley (the first known human civilization), the history of online casinos only goes back as far as the 1990s.
If you were around at that time, then you will remember that many people were skeptical of the internet and others believed it was the future. The gambling industry did embrace the internet with open arms. Despite what some predicted, the internet has not completely wiped out in-person betting.
The history of online gambling can be traced back to the VERY beginning of the internet.
Not much of what was going on online was documented back in the 90s, but we do know that the first online casino was opened in 1994. But we don’t know what it was called. We do know that two companies were involved in this launch – Cryptologic and Microgaming. By 1995 there were 15 online casinos, by 1996 there were 200. By 1998 the online casino industry was said to be worth $830 million dollars, and now it is worth $56+ billion dollars.
The oldest online casinos that are still operating today opened between 1997-1998. However, the industry is mostly dominated by newer businesses. While online casinos offer everything from slots to blackjack to bingo, Poker players are the most catered for. Many casinos – like Fanduel (you can visit the website here) offer both an online bookkeeping service and an online casino.
Online casinos were based on websites for the better part of two decades. In the last decade, we have seen the world of online casinos make its way over into the mobile space. Now, every major online casino offers an app version of their website.
How online casinos changed the internet
As we have seen recently, with the Cryptocurrency market, international governments are very slow when it comes to trying to regulate online activity. When online casinos were first launched, they were run as off-shore companies and were not regulated.
While there were a lot of genuine online casinos, some scammers took advantage of the new craze and set up fraudulent casinos. Within a few years, governments were forced to put together regulations that would protect the people in their countries.
These laws were the first major attempt to govern internet activity that the world saw, these laws also forced casinos to build their websites differently to meet the new standards. These are the two main ways online casinos affected the internet.
Online regulations
Thanks to fraudulent online casinos, we began to see governments change the way they approached crime on the internet. With casinos facing charges in the country they were based in and the country where the gambler was playing from.
Many countries still outlaw online gambling.
Off-shore jurisdictions were a big problem for governments when they were trying to crack down on unfair gambling practices in the 1990s, and they continue to be. However, countries like England have fairly lax laws when it comes to gambling, and even offer a few tax benefits to businesses that choose to work with them.
Online security
If you’ve ever been to a casino then you understand that security is a crucial part of their business. Things are no different in the world of online casinos. A lot of the security software we use today has routes in the world of online casinos.
The business put a vast amount of money into making sure that their money pots were safe and that their games were unhackable.
