Gambling has been around for thousands of years. There is evidence of gambling dating back to Ancient China around 1900BC. The oldest gambling establishment in the world is in Venice, Italy and has been there since 1638. The Casinò di Venezia started out as a side room for patrons of the theatre so they could gamble during the interval. The casino still exists today on the Grand Canal and is responsible for starting the popularity of casinos in Venice. As a side note, the composer Richard Wagner died here on a visit and a museum dedicated to him is also on this site.
In the US gambling in the old days conjured up images of the Wild West with saloons, casinos and card games ending in shoot outs. Famous or infamous gamblers from this time have gone down in history. Names like Doc Holliday, Pat Garrett and Wyatt Earp to name just three from dozens. Gone are the days where you had to play with a gun loaded by your side and your back to the wall. Nowadays you can visit casinos all over America and other countries and experience a night in a glamorous establishment, hopefully win and retire to a beautiful hotel suite.
Even with all the luxury and modernity available there are less people visiting traditional casinos and deciding to play online. Although the traditional market still holds the majority share and the big casinos are reopening, online gambling is taking a bigger share each year. So why are digital casinos and gambling sites starting to take over?
The effect of the pandemic
One of the biggest reasons in 2020 for the growth of online gambling was Covid-19. Land based casinos, bingo halls and bookmakers had to close their businesses as they were deemed non-essential. Along with other businesses closing and lockdowns or self isolation being imposed on millions of people there was suddenly a gap in the market for entertainment.
People need stimulation, exercise, routine and social interaction. The lockdown changed the daily activities for millions of people and so they sought other ways to fill their time. Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok all experienced increased traffic during lockdown. Netflix added 16 million new subscribers as people sought out new movies and shows to watch. Online gambling also experienced the same growth.
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The convenience of playing from home
It wasn’t just Covid that pushed more people to search out online gaming and casinos. Many people had already discovered the convenience of playing their favourite games without leaving the comfort of their own homes.
You can play anytime you like in an online casino. Stuck home alone on the holidays? No problem, the online casino is still open. Working strange shifts with unsociable hours? No problem, login and play a few hands of poker. The only requirements for using an online casino is that you need a smartphone, which most people have, and an internet connection.
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Comfort and less distractions
Unlike visiting a traditional brick and mortar casino you don’t have to travel anywhere. You might feel a little uncomfortable being surrounded by loud drunk players but at home you can lounge in your favourite chair and play in silence or with your own choice of music in the background. There is no one to bother you and no loud noises or music.
Customer value
If you are a regular visitor to Las Vegas and stay in the same resort or gamble a lot of money you may well have experienced some great perks like having your room upgraded or completely comped. For the average visitor though these things don’t generally happen. Online everyone has a chance of something free. When a new player signs up they will often get a bonus bet or some cash deposited in their account to play the slots such as book of dead with. If you are into sports betting you may find that each week you are given a free bet to use. Online the program notices you, you don’t have to wait for a real person to realise you are a potentially valuable customer.
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Privacy
Online you can have a certain degree of privacy that you cannot when you visit a land-based establishment. If you use a live dealer casino then you will get to interact with a real human dealer and watch them as they run the game, be that roulette or poker. You can speak to the dealer and they can reply but they cannot see you. Similarly, the other players can only see your screen name too.
If you use bitcoin or another accepted cryptocurrency then you are even anonymous with your payment methods.
Gambling limits and staying in control
You can have more control online than in a casino. There are features in online casinos that let you set the amount of time you let yourself gamble and the amount of money you are allowed to deposit so you can stay in control.
You are also less at risk of getting carried away with a crowd around you egging you on to make a bigger bet while drinking too much alcohol and making poor irrational decisions.
Advertising
Online casinos and apps can target people more effectively than traditional casinos can. If you download a free game to your smartphone you may end up seeing many adverts for slot machines and other casino games like poker. These adverts work by enticing you to click on them and then enter the Google Play Store or Apple Store and then download poker tournament games or starburst slots. And it works. If a land-based casino ran an advert in between you playing on your favorite mobile game would you travel to play there? Probably not, but clicking on an advert means at the most you wasted a couple of minutes and a little bit of data.
There are many other ways the online gambling business is drawing in new players. From the use of social media, SEO, and by offering free to play games. In the future, VR and other technology will be used to continue to draw people away from brick and mortar casinos and it seems online casinos will continue to grow.
