Advancements in technology have revolutionized many industries since the turn of the century and that is certainly the case where the gambling sector is concerned.
Anyone wishing to play their favorite games prior to the new millennium were limited to visiting land-based venues in order to feed their passion.
The internet helped to facilitate a huge shift towards online play, with gambling operators leveraging modern tech to their advantage in recent years.
That point is highlighted by annual revenues for online gambling, with experts predicting that they are likely to reach $60 billion globally by the end of the year.
Iconic games such as blackjack, roulette, bingo and slots have helped to drive the growth and the trend looks set to continue for the foreseeable future.
Read on as we take a look at six popular land-based gambling games that have become an online phenomenon during the 21st century.
Poker
Poker has long been established as one of the most popular casino games, but online sites have helped to fire it into a completely different stratosphere.
Television broadcasts of live events played their part in introducing poker to the masses and inspired a plethora of players to take up the game.
The beauty of poker is that it can bring together both professionals and amateurs, with involvement in games only limited by a player’s ability to meet the buy-in requirements.
The successes of Chris Moneymaker (2003) and Greg Raymer (2004) at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) showed what can be achieved by playing poker online.
Both players qualified for the event through online satellite tournaments and subsequently went on to scoop poker’s biggest prize.
With the 2024 WSOP being played exclusively online, many more players will try to follow in the footsteps of Moneymaker and Raymer in the future.
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Bingo
Bingo dates back to the 1500s, with the Italian lottery Il Gioco del Lotto d’Italia the forerunner to a pastime that became loved around the world.
The United Kingdom was one of the biggest markets for bingo, with the game developing into the main social activity for millions of people from the 1960s onwards.
However, it started to suffer from an image problem towards the end of the century and people began to levitate towards other areas for their entertainment.
Tech proved to be the saviour for bingo, with operators transforming the perception of the game and helping it appeal to a revised demographic.
Brands like Wink Bingo have become massively popular in recent years, attracting a new generation of players to this fabulous pastime.
The rise of online bingo shows no signs of slowing down and is even helping to drive a resurgence in the popularity of land-based venues.
Blackjack
Blackjack was historically the number one card game that people associated with casinos and its popularity has boomed since the introduction of online play.
The game originated in France back in the 1700s from a game called ‘vingt-et-un’ (twenty-one) and subsequently became a staple part of the land-based casino scene.
Whereas many casino games require luck in order for players to be successful, blackjack actually requires huge amounts of skill in order to truly master it.
By applying what is known as ‘basic strategy’, players are able to significantly reduce the house’s edge and improve their own chances of winning.
This factor has contributed to a huge rise in the number of players using online sites to play blackjack, particularly in live dealer variants of the game.
With virtual reality (VR) showing promise as a future tech innovation for blackjack, the popularity of the game is unlikely to slow down any time soon.
Roulette
Roulette’s simplicity sets it apart from most other gambling games and this factor has played a major part in it becoming an online hit.
Known as the ‘Devil’s Game’ as the numbers on the wheel add up to 666, roulette is a game which can enthral and infuriate in equal measure.
At its base level players are required to bet on a number and if the ball lands in the corresponding slot on the wheel they are a winner.
Side bets such as red or black and odds or evens add further depth to the game, without ever taking it into the realms of being confusing.
The repetitive nature of roulette has made it attractive for online sites, with players never more than a minute or so away from another spin of the wheel.
Much like blackjack, live dealer games have added to the appeal of online roulette, helping to replicate the experience of playing in land-based venues.
Slots
Slots date all the way back to the 1800s, but it wasn’t until 1963 that technology facilitated their shift into the mainstream.
Things developed rapidly thereafter, with slot games becoming an integral part of casinos, amusement arcades, bars, bingo halls and other entertainment venues.
Developers have harnessed the enthusiasm for slots to great effect over the past couple of decades, creating thousands of exciting online games.
The instantaneous nature of slots makes them hugely appealing, with players knowing in a matter of seconds whether their spin has been successful or otherwise.
Mobile tech has powered further growth in the sector, with slots transferring effortlessly from a gameplay perspective onto hand-held devices.
With online sites offering players the chance to win life-changing jackpots, their popularity is unlikely to diminish in the future.
Craps
The original version of craps was a game called Hazard and it is believed to have been played as far back as medieval times.
Craps exploded into public consciousness during the Second World War, with the street version of the game played extensively by soldiers.
It soon become entrenched in casino venues in Las Vegas and the Caribbean, before finding its way to Europe, Australia and Macau during the 1960s.
It has since become part of the online casino sector, with most operators including numerous variants of the game on their sites.
Bank craps, simplified craps and high point craps are three of the most popular types, with each based on the same basic version of the game.
For a beginner the game can be a little intimidating, but there are plenty of video tutorials on the internet to help you get to grips with online craps.
