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The Very First Online Casino - What Was It?

Online casinos have a leading place in the world of gambling. But such entertainment has become popular relatively recently. Activities with gambling entertainment were initially available only in land-based casinos. Therefore, the beginning of online casinos is directly related to the history of gambling in such establishments. Today, there are many places with games of chance that operate on the Internet. For example, Wheelz casino info allows you to learn the advantages and features of one of the most famous casinos which has been popular for a long time.

The first official opening of a land-based casino took place back in 1638 in Venice. The establishment "Ridotto" was available only to aristocratic representatives.

In the 18th century, gambling entertainment and gaming establishments began to grow rapidly across Europe. After that, new technologies started to open up new possibilities and online casinos emerged. The first online gambling establishments included classic roulette, blackjack, poker and simple reel slots. Europa Casino, William Hill and 888 Casino are considered to be the first online casinos that are still successfully operating.

Chronology of the Appearance of Online Casinos

There's no single story of when and how online gambling was born. But there are a number of events that played an important role and laid the foundation for this industry. The table below summarizes the most important developments:

Year	Event
1994	Microgaming created a platform with classic slots. At the same time, the countries of Barbuda and Antigua began working on licensing.
1995	The official opening of the Gaming Club.
1996	A commission was created in Kahnawake, which began to regulate online casinos.
1998	A progressive jackpot feature was developed, which led to a large increase in casino users. Players' profits were over $1 billion a year.
2001	New online casinos emerged which offered customers various bonuses and multi-player games.
2007	The evolution of games does not stand still, and developers offer live games with real dealers.
2015	Casino representatives began to work massively on gambling mobile apps.
2019	Because of the online casino pandemic, There has been a boom in the industry, which has led to record revenues. By 2020, the industry generated about $60 billion.

According to these data, you can see how rapidly the gambling industry has developed. Today, it is difficult to surprise online casino customers with any innovations.

Significant Points
The first online casinos started to appear in the 90's, when the Internet was becoming a widely available tool.
Three significant milestones defined the further development of this industry. The development of the industry played a major role. With the help of new technology, companies began to take their land-based casinos to the next level. Simple software allowed developers to replace mechanical elements. And after all these years, electromechanical slots, which were so popular at one time, can be found in rare exhibitions.
A great influence also had the legislative regulation of such activities. Gambling was first declared legal in the small state of Antigua https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antigua . At first, they monitored the work of land-based clubs, but after their appearance on the network, they began to regulate online activities. Thanks to this, the island still attracts different people to develop a business in this sphere.

Development of Online Casinos
Today there are quite a few online establishments. The competition in this industry is very big, and each casino is trying its best to attract new customers. Even more than 10 years ago, the range of games and different offers was not so wide, and now every user can find the best conditions for himself.
The first casino introduced by Microgaming opened an opportunity to play classic slots. The developers worked not only on the range of game offers, but also on security. You had to go a long way to ensure:

• full confidentiality;
• protection of personal data and funds on the balance;
• secure processing of all transactions.

Various companies carefully worked through their own and others' mistakes to get a site that would meet all the security requirements. In 1995, a company from Ireland introduced a concept that played an important role in the development of online casinos. Since that time, payment systems began to be used that made it possible to perform secure payments. The same firm also introduced the first online casino, InterCasino, in 1996, which was designed down to the smallest detail. And all users could be sure that their personal data and funds were reliably protected.

Forecasts for the Future
By 2010-2011, there were more than 2,500 online casinos in the world. At that time, they began to grow rapidly and there were more and more users on the web. Each virtual casino began to offer a variety of entertainment. You could choose a variety from the catalog:

1. Colorful slots.
2. Varieties of card games.
3. Lotteries.
4. Roulettes, etc.

In those years, revenue from all virtual institutions was about $18 billion a year.
Microgaming remains the leader among the suppliers of gaming software to this day. Even the very first and primitive machines are still in demand among users. This developer supplies games to all licensed online casinos. Gamblers can highlight the attention to every detail since Microgaming cares about its reputation and knows how to stand out in this segment.
Slot machines have been in demand before and are still leaders among many games. This is due to the fact that they work with a random number generator. Unlike card games, no one can predict the outcome of the game. The result always depends on a special algorithm, and this excitement attracts customers. Also, the percentage of payout laid in the slot machines. And the higher it is, the more probable it is to break a win at the casino.
According to all forecasts, such activities are not going to decline as the number of visits to online casinos is increasing every day. Almost in every corner of the country there are institutions that gather millions of gambling users around them.