It may seem puzzling that the tremendous library of online casino games available today once seemed like something unimaginable to us. It feels like we were once part of some obscure gaming world that made some of us travel thousands of miles to put a coin into a slot machine.
Today, it’s different. Because today, we have an abundant selection of both cutting-edge and vintage slots types, multiple variations on classic card games, poker tournaments held year in and year out, where gamblers have the opportunity to earn millions! And all of this is now easily accessible via the Internet; at your service whenever you want, and wherever you are.
There is however a story about what actually fostered the development of the online casino industry; and it’s a story well worth telling! So the narrative we’re going to unveil for you here features several main characters, without whom, online gambling would exist only in the dreams of the most inveterate and avid punters.
What Are the Roots of Gambling?
The person we should be grateful to for the existence of the online gambling industry is none other than Tim Berners-Lee, the British engineer who invented what is today called the Internet. The public launch of the World Wide Web in the first half of the 90s further served as an impetus to the establishment of the first online casino.
Microgaming, a software development company based on the Isle of Man, states it pioneered the “world’s first true” online casino software in 1994. Some sources claim that the company was also a pathbreaker in the casino industry, with the first online gambling venue appearing in the same year! However, there is hardly any proof to support this claim, and the name of the alleged Microgaming casino must be buried somewhere in the depths of the web.
It is noteworthy that the year 1994 also saw the advent of Stanford Federal Credit Union, the first financial institution to offer online banking.
However you think about it, Microgaming does indeed deserve credit for its contribution to gambling. The company continues supplying online casinos with some high-class games, and it is considered one of the leading software developers in the niche.
Despite the constant flurry of rumors about Microgaming’s influence on online gambling, InterCasino is generally considered to be the true pioneer of this industry; as they accepted the first real money bet in 1996. InterCasino is still operating online.
New Era: Real Money Wager and Mobile Gambling
It’s no exaggeration to say 1994 marked the beginning of the online casino industry. In that year, Netscape was the company operating in the Internet, software, and telecommunication industries; and it was they who created Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) — the content solution that secured communication over a computer network using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol. Speaking in plain language, Netscape developed software enabling gamblers to safely wager money on online casino websites.
But nowadays, there is a more modern and secure version to SSL called Transport Layer Security (TLS).
As for mobile casinos, Microgaming did manage to leave their footprints here as well. The company claims that mobile gambling became viable since Microgaming released the software in 2004.
It’s also worth noting that in 2007, Apple launched the first touch-screen mobile phone; and this made online and mobile gambling convenient.
Live Casino & Virtual Reality
The industry of live casino games is primarily associated with Evolution Gaming (EG), a Swedish provider of video-streamed live casino solutions. Founded in 2006, the company has 12 offices spread over the globe, including the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
The next generation of online gambling that is likely to hit the industry pertains to virtual reality casinos. VR gaming already exists among us, albeit in a fairly primitive form.
List of the TOP online Casinos
