The History Of
Online Casinos
|
|
Uptown Aces - 400%
Match Up to $4,000 +
100 Free Spins!
|
|
|
An online casino is
basically an extension of
the brick and mortar gaming
houses. There are more and
more people around the world
who are playing casino games
online because of the
convenience of such. Some
people also prefer to play
online casino games because
they believe that the house
advantage is rather low when
playing online. The question
now is: do you know how
online casinos originated?
Basically, the history of
online casinos started about
17 years ago.
It was in August 18th 1995
when the very first online
casino was launched. This
was the Internet Casinos,
Inc (or simply ICI). ICI
started operating about 18
casino games. It was also
the first to offer online
access to National Indian
Lottery. ICI originally
operated in Turks as well as
Caicos Islands, avoiding
prosecution if they will
operate in the US.
There were other online
casinos that were launched
in the mid-1990s. These are
the Gaming Club and the
Intertops. The latter
focused on casino as well as
sports books. Intertops was
the first to launch sports
book than ICI.
It 1996, Interactive Gaming
& Communications Corp.
(SBET) launched the second
sports book. SBET also
became the first online
casino-related publicly
traded company to be listed
in NASDAQ. The success of
SBET was not only realized
financially but also
socially when the bettors
accepted sports wagers
through calling a toll-free
number to Antigua. This was
a proof that the bettors are
willing to go the extra just
to bet.
In the US, however, gambling
laws and regulations were
very strict that casino
operators decided to operate
their online casinos either
in European or Asian
countries. The Caribbean
Islands was also a place of
choice. In some of the
countries, even the
government had taken
interest in opening their
own online casino like the
Liechtenstein's government.
This government operated an
international lottery online
in various languages
including German with the
goal of driving
international traffic.
In the UK, the first online
casino was called Atlantis.
Atlantis, which was owned by
Sol Kerzner, was licensed
under Isle of Man. Kerzner
developed a rather new
concept of gambling online
known as the thematic online
casinos. Today, Atlantis
still offers an exceptional
gambling experience from
payouts to progressives. Its
owner also offers free trips
to Paradise Island located
in Bahamas. This is actually
a part of the VIP program of
the online casino. Such a
program, however, is
exclusive to the members of
the London
Club.
Though there had been
challenges particularly in
terms of placing bets and
receiving payouts, online
casinos are apparently a
success. One proof is this
is the proliferation of many
online casinos today.
Building a reputation,
however, is never that easy.
Based on the statistics of
Rolling Good Times Online,
an online gambling magazine,
there are about 452 gambling
websites, all of which have
their own franchises,
subsidiaries and affiliates.
The sites also have their
sister sites. On an average,
the online gambling
industry's worth is
approximately at $49 billion
on an annual basis.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
