Technology has had an impact on every aspect of our lives and casinos are no exception to this, as the already well established casinos have been able to use their brand name to create online casinos and reach a much wider audience than previously. As the technology has advanced, as have the casino games that feature, with there being more choices to appeal to a greater number of casual gamers.
It was back in the mid-nineties that online casinos first began to appear on the internet as companies looked to capitalise on a brand new market. The first online poker only website would arrive in 1998, Poker Planet, but despite being popular, suffered with many technical issues and was hampered by the low speed offered by dial-up internet. In 1999 a rival would be launched that suffered far fewer problems and was able to attract a far greater number of players. Paradise Poker was able to lead the way in online poker thanks to suffering from fewer problems and also offering greater choice in poker games including Texas Hold’em, Seven-Card Stud and Omaha.
As broadband internet took over from dial-up, more websites began to appear, with the loading speed far superior to the previous offerings. As a result online casinos began to offer a greater variation of casino games including a wide range of slots, poker, blackjack, bingo and roulette. Online casinos had been able to successfully market themselves to a huge audience by promoting the idea of people be able to play the casinos’ games from the comfort of their own homes. This idea improved greatly with the introduction of live casinos, which offer a more realistic feel to playing casino games, as there are live croupiers and opponents while playing poker and roulette, however it is all done through a screen.
Unfortunately for the casinos, technology moves fast and they needed to keep up with the latest market they needed to crack, the smartphone market. As smartphones have become increasingly more powerful and commonplace in society, the casinos were forced to create mobile friendly versions of their websites and games. This shift in the market offered players the chance to play their favourite casino games on the go, just so long as they had an internet connection.
Online security has often deterred people from using online casinos, as they are likely to be a target for hackers. Handling vast sums of money and people’s personal information has forced these companies to be at forefront of cyber security.
Brick and mortar casinos have still had the opportunity to utilise technological advances, especially within the security of their own casino. No one likes a cheat and with the advancement of biometric face recognition, the security cameras are able to pick up on the unwelcome behaviour while also eliminating the need for manual checks conducted by the security personnel. If the cheater is banned and returns to the casino, the biometric face recognition technology can inform the security personnel that this person is banned.
Casino chips themselves are not exempt from technology as the RFID chips, which look incredibly similar to normal casino chips have a microchip inserted into them, increasing the chances of a casino discovering fake chips. The advantage of microchips allows all staff to be able to check the chips, whether it is when at a game table or cashing out.
The future for casinos looks set to be in the virtual reality world, as the technology has revolutionised the way we play video games. As the virtual reality headsets become more readily available, so will the opportunity to look like Marty McFly Jr in Back to the Future II. There are already a few virtual reality casinos, however a boom is expected, as there has been for games consoles and if the technology continues to improve, gamblers could be looking to them for the casino experience in their own homes.
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