While casinos have been around for over 100 years, online casinos are new to the landscape. However, in a very short time they have become a dominant player in the world of gambling, and perhaps the future of all gaming.
Whether it is an old, established casino or the newest microgaming casino, online play has continued to change and evolve.
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Online casinos are relatively new. The first began to appear in 1995. Internet Casinos, Intertops Casino and Sports Book and The Gaming Club all began at this time. While it is believed Internet Casinos was the first to launch, Intertops might have had it sportsbook up and running first. Regardless, these were the early pioneers.
The online casino business worked very hard to ensure security and fair play and build a reputation for that, from the first casinos to the newest microgaming casino. While some rogues developed, most of the casinos did indeed accomplish that.
U.S. gambling laws sent most of these companies to places like Asia, Europe and the Caribbean, but players were able to access the games and play.
The casinos changed from the early versions with limited graphics to the newest microgaming casino, which features high quality graphics and full casino experience. Along the way, new breakthroughs were introduced, including the thematic online casino, and online poker rooms that have become so successful, dominating the World Series of Poker in recent years.
There are well over 400 gambling sites on the internet now, with varying levels of gaming. The newest microgaming casino is flashy, well-rounded, and has hundreds of games to offer. A far cry from the early days, when Internet Casinos offered just 18 games.
While it has been less than 13 years since online casinos first came on the scene, they have grown and expanded along with the internet itself into a multibillion dollar industry.
Microgaming first jumped into the business in 1996, focusing solely on online casinos. In 1998, the company launched the Internet's first progressive jackpot slot.
The poker boom of the mid-1990s carried much of the Internet gambling industry with it. Chris Moneymaker's win in the 2003 Main Event launched a new generation of Internet poker players, and they naturally progressed to other online games. The newest microgaming casino groups offered many of the most popular games that also appealed to poker players, and even more growth ensued. Despite repeated efforts by the U.S. government to stop Internet gaming, online casinos continue to thrive.
Sites continue to evolve. Some sites that were just poker sites have expanded, as have some sports betting sites. Some, such as Bodog, offer everything. Where the online gambling world goes next is anyone's guess. From humble beginnings in the mid-1990s, the history of online casinos is still being made. The newest microgaming casino will be old news in a few months. The world of online gambling is still growing at an incredible rate, and the best may be still out there on the horizon.