This year; 2017, online gambling is expected to bring an income of $50.65 billion and get to $56.05 billion in 2018. Without doubt, this is a multi-billion dollar industry.
Online gambling history is interesting, filled with twist and turns. In this article, we are going to learn about how online gambling came to be and where it is right now.
How much income did the industry generate since 2009?
| Year | Amount in Billion Dollars |
| 2009 | 24.73 |
| 2010 | 27.58 |
| 2011 | 30.27 |
| 2012 | 32.67 |
| 2013 | 35.52 |
| 2014 | 37.47 |
| 2015 | 41.36 |
| 2016 | 45.86 |
| 2017 | 50.65 |
| 2018 | 56.05 |
Amounts in 2017 & 2018 are projections of how the industry is expected to grow.
The first online casino was established in 1994.
What forms are there for online gambling?
Poker
Poker gaming is one of the forms and this was among the first games to be played in casinos. The game is available in different forms and they include Texas Hold’em, Seven-Card Stud, Horse and Omaha.
These poker games are available in cash game structures, as well as tournament forms.
Casinos
Another form is casino gambling. In the casinos, you will find a range of games. Nowadays, with the advent of online casino gaming, there are different games and versions of games played in a casino.
There are games like slots that are available in different themes, reels, bonuses and can be played in different denominations. Other kinds of games in casinos are live casino games that are dealt by real life casino dealers. There are other games and they are blackjack, baccarat, craps and roulette.
Sports Betting
Sports betting is simply predicting the result of a sport game and placing a wager on the result. This way, you will bag a win depending on whether your predictions were correct.
In betting, there are different forms;
Novelty Betting
This kind of betting is also called alternative betting, special bets of proposition bets. These bets allow the player to make bets on different outcomes and events. These events can be who will be the winner of a reality TV show, weather predictions or who will win an election.
In-Play Betting
This is another kind of betting and it is common in sportsbooks these days. This is the kind of betting that happens when an event starts. It is also called live betting; you can place a bet after a match starts and you can bet on different outcomes.
Horse Race Betting
A huge percentage of online gambling revolves around horse race betting.
Bingo
This is the game of bingo but you’re playing it online. One of the most popular kind of bingo is the 75-ball bingo which has in excess of 552 million billion possible combinations of numbers for a one ticket.
Mobile Casino Gaming
This is the latest trend in the world of online gambling. All gambling forms are now being made compatible with mobile devices. You can play most of the casino games on mobile devices run by Windows, Android and iOS.
eSports
This is also referred to as electronic sports, competitive video gaming or pro gaming. This kind of gaming is a competition made possible by electronic systems. The results of the eSport systems are mediated by human-computer interfaces.
Some of the most known tournaments are the international and league of legends world championship.
Games you will find popularly played by eSport lovers are halo, League of Legends, Starcraft, Counter strike, Dota 2 and Call of Duty.
Fantasy Sports Gambling
In this form of gambling, the participants come up with virtual teams of real players in professional sports. The teams compete get into competition based on statistical performance of the players. Some of the known fantasy sports providers are FanDuel and DraftKings.
Notable things that have taken place in the world of gambling since 1994
1994
Passing of Free Trade & Processing Act by Antigua & Barbuda. This allowed licenses to be given allowing the opening of online casinos
InterCasino launched
1995
Cryptologic started offering online security software and make financial transactions safe
Microgaming launched craps, roulette, video poker and blackjack games and also developed player management tools
1996
Kahnawake Gaming Commission was formed. The commission regulated gaming and gave gaming licenses to online casinos.
1997
Online gaming websites grew to 200 websites from 15 in 1996
1998
This is the year when online gambling revenues made a record high of $834.5 million
This year saw the launch of the first poker room. Planet Poker introduced Texas Hold’em online
1999
Gambling prohibition Act to the US was introduced but did not pass
Multiplayer online gambling was introduced in 1999. This is when people played, held chats and interacted with one another
2000
The Australian Government passed the Interactive Gambling Moratorium Act which made it illegal for an online casino not licensed and operating before May 200 to operate
Cryptologic was listed inNASDAQ with the CRYP sign
2001
The number of people playing online rose to 8 million
The Sands of the Caribbean Online Casino paid out one of the largest progressive jackpot valued at $414,119
2002
The online gambling industry is valued at $4.5 billion
2003
U.S Department of Justice made online gambling advertisements illegal
Antigua challenged the ban of online gambling advertisement terming it as violation of free trade agreements
2004
Owner to internationalnetcasino.com is charged by New Jersey authorities for taking money from players and assisting in making bets
WTO sided with Antigua & Barbuda against USA closing online gambling
2006
UIGEA was passed by congress in 2006
Sporting News is fined $7.2 million for not getting rid of online gambling ads
2007
UK capitalizes on the passing of UIGEA and focused on Europe. They also put in place a Gambling Act which legalizes and regulates online gambling
2008
Kentucky tries to seize 141 domain names belonging to online gambling sites to try stop illegal online gambling
2009
Department of Justice freezes more than 27,000 poker account and seizes more than $35 million
2010
Reports show that the online gambling industry had grown by 12.5% and players spent 10% more hours each week.
2011
Poker Stars, Full Tilt and Absolute Poker are indicted on 15th April and this day is referred as Black Friday since then.
Apple products become popular and online gambling focuses on mobile gaming
2012
Poker gets exempted from being illegal after a judge declared it a game of skill and not chance
2013
Online gambling gets legalized in Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware
Online gambling gets into social gaming
2014
Richard Branson, Tropicana Resort and Gamesys partner to establish blackjack, slots and online poker to New Jersey
Bitcoin get into the world of online gambling
2015
Efforts to allow internet gambling stalls
Mega Moolah from Microgaming breaks record cashing out €17.9 million after a wager of 25p
2016
Pennsylvania fails to legalize online gambling
New York Court prevents FanDuel and DraftKings from accepting bets
2017
Senator. Jay Costa announces his efforts to try make legalization of daily fantasy and internet gaming
Eliran Oved 