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The The first online casino opened its virtual doors back in 1996. From there, the popularity of online gambling or internet gambling has grown exponentially, despite being in the “legal grey area” in many countries. According to statistics, around 70 million Americans gamble each year, and more than 90% have admitted to have gambled at least once in their lifetime.
The fact that various state lotteries and casinos have been operating since recorded history, coupled with the uncontrollable nature of the internet has resulted to a $37.91 billion online gaming market, which experts predict is going to increase to a $59.79 billion by 2020. If these facts weren’t enough for you, then here are some more.
Online Casinoshave Been Around for 20 Years
If you searched for an online casino today, you’d probably find thousands of options, that’s because new online gambling sites are popping up almost every day. It’s hard to imagine how far online gambling has come in just a couple of decades. Online casinos have come a long way from the first one that was launched back in 1996.
The online casino was called InterCasino and was based in Antigua, and offered only eighteen games at the time. Fast-forward to the sleek online casinos of today, many of which are affiliated with land-based casinos and offer countless games and opportunities for people to play and win on various online casino games.
While at first, casinos were not interested in being part of this new business model, because they thought it would drive business away from the traditional sources of income, more and more casinos nowadays are creating an online presence by offering their casino games to users who want to play online.
84% of all Online Gamblers are Male
For the first time, more women are signing up to play at online casinos, but despite a 40% increase in female subscribers to online casinos, men are still way ahead, making up for 84% of the total number of gamblers who go online. This is an interesting fact mainly because the first casino license that was issued in Las Vegas was given to a woman in 1920.
Winning the Lottery Online
Who wouldn’t want to win large sums of money by playing online slots. That would be like winning the lottery. This is why online casinos also offer lotteries to players who just want to keep things simple. In fact, more than 55% of the world’s population plays some form of lottery, making it the most popular form of gambling.
Slots are the most commonly Played Game Online
This makes sense. Not everyone knows how to play poker or Blackjack. Nowadays, more players are turning towards online slots as a form of entertainment. In fact the usage of online slots, have gone up to 90%, while land-based casinos and off-line slots make up for just 10%. In 2015, a soldier from the UK became a multi-millionaire when he won £13.2 million or (17,260,518.00 dollars) while playing the Mega Moolah slot at an online casino. 26-year old Jon Heywood earned a place in the record books for winning the biggest jackpot of any online slot.
Not All Online Casinos can be Trusted
This is just another sad but true fact of playing online casinos. While there are many respected online casinos out there, you will also find many not-so-honest casinos as well, which is why players need to be extremely cautious while waging bets online. Some of the well-known online casinos include; Bovada, BetOnline, SportsBetting.ag, and TopBet.
Playing Against the Odds
It’s a well-known fact of playing at a brick-and-mortar casino that the player will always be playing against the house. While online casinos may appear to be tame in comparison, the truth is, the odds of online casino games mirror the odds of land-based casino games. So, while you won’t be playing against a rigged system when you go on an online casino, it’s not going to be any easier. “How’s that,” you ask? The reason why online casinos do not have to cheat to take away your money, is because casino games already have an unassailable mathematical edge over the players, whether you are playing the casino games online or at a physical casino.
You Can’t Trust All Information Portals
Many people use online information portals to get the information they need regarding a particular online casino or a casino game. But, not all online information portals are created equal. That’s because one of the ways these information portals make money is by selling the advertisements of online casinos.
Whenever a curious gambler clicks on the links, gets directed to a particular online casino, and makes a wager, the information portal makes a nice little commission. There’s nothing illegal about this business model. That’s just how it works online. But, now that you know, always try to find information from trusted resources when it comes to online gaming.
Enter at Your Own Risk
While there are plenty of options for users who want to gamble online, there are no product safety standards or regulations on online casinos, which is why they are banned from some countries. This means that whenever a player makes a wager on an online casino, they are doing so at their own risk.
The Birth of the Sandwich
Okay, before you take a bite out of that sandwich, here’s an interesting fact that’s not related to online gambling per se, but does have to do with gambling, which makes it an amusing piece of information to know nonetheless.
Most people don’t know that the sandwich was invented by one John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich, who was an 18thcentury English aristocrat. The profligate and gambler was no fond of gambling that he once asked his servants to serve his meat between two slices of bread so that he could eat with one hand and play cards with the other, without having the need to leave the game.
