From humble beginnings in the mid-nineties and through regulation challenges, online casinos have went through a lot to become what they are today.
You can tell a field has gone through enough for a sufficient amount of time to be considered something when you can write the annals of. Such is the world of online casinos. To millions of online casino players all around the world, it might seem trivial today that they can experience the best of this world's offerings like live dealers, huge jackpots and high-quality blockbuster-like video slots, but that was not always the case.
The Beginning of Online Casinos (1994-2000)
Online casinos' humble beginnings trace back to 1994.It was then when the island of Antigua and Barbuda became a major contributor to the birth of online casinos, when the Free Trade and Processing Zone Act was passed in its jurisdiction. The act allowed for the licensing and operation of casinos which wanted to function on the internet.
When this step was done, the early online casinos needed games, something which was provided by the newly found Microgaming, remembered as one of the first online casino software developers. 1995 saw the creation of CryptoLogic which developed encrypted communication protocols to ensure secure financial transactions. From 1995 and until 2000, online casinos have expanded greatly, with the opening of additional licensing jurisdictions like The Kahnawake Gaming Commission. By the end of 1998 there were over 700 real-money online casinos in operation.
The Online Betting Boom (2000-today)
The dawn of the new millennium marked somewhat of an emerging golden era for online casinos. More and more games and progressive jackpots were introduced to the market, with online casinos and software companies traded on stock exchanges. By the millennium, online casinos were generating over $2.2 billion in revenues. With the offering of licenses by UK territories like Isle of Man, Alderney and Gibraltar, gambling went global in 2001 catering to around 8 million players in that year alone. 2003-2005 marked the setting up of 888.com and the company's registration of initial public offerings (ipos) alongside brands like partygaming and software developer Playtech.
Regulation also advanced with the 2005 UK Gambling Act which presents Europe's most liberal gambling legislation. In the US, however, online casinos ran into some bad times with the admittance of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act in 2006 which prohibited banks and credit card companies to process financial transactions for internet gambling sites; this drove many international operators out of the US market. Black Friday in April 2011 also sealed the deal for online poker rooms in the US.
However, online gaming has returned to the USA in November 2013 with regulation in Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware with many other states looking closely at the process. Nowadays, online gaming is legalized in 85 countries contributing to a $35 billion industry. You can see an illustrated timeline of the history of online casinos in this comprehensive infographic put up by RightCasino.
We would like to credit Right Casino for the content of this information.
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