On-line gaming has become such
a global phenomena that it encompasses the revenue made by long time
established casinos around the world in regards to earnings. Prior
to the boom of on-line gaming, electronic lottery was already
establishing itself as the very first form of on-line betting method
that it was one of the most habit forming social indulgence that was
patronized on a national level. Since it's early conception in the
late 1960's, the Lottery
had a big impact on a country's economical growth as it brought in
billions of dollars into the socio-economic structure. It was not
until 1994 that the small Caribbean nation of Antigua and Barbuda
created a bill called the Free Trade and Processing Act that allowed
organizations to be granted licenses to operate on-line casinos.
Prior to this, a small software developing company called
Microgaming was already developing an application that will ensure
the security and privacy of it's users on-line. Microgaming was
based on the Isle of Man and with the help of a company called
CryptoLogic, and after numerous evaluation in testing their software
for security flaws, safe trans actions can now be made which led to
the operation of the very first on-line casinos.
The
Kahnawake Gaming Commission was established in 1996 to regulate all
on-line gaming activities in the Mohawk Territory of Kahnawake which
also issued gaming licenses to most of the world's on-line casinos.
This was to make sure that licensed on-line gambling operators and
organizations follow a rule of fairness and transparency. Nearing the
end of the 1990's, Internet on-line gambling was already picking up
momentum as the third most popular activity that people indulge in
on-line, next to browsing, on-line RPG gaming and social networking.
From the time that it started operating in 1996 with just 15
websites, it has grown to as much as 200 websites in just 1 year at
the end of 1997. Frost and Sullivan, a well known accounting
firm disclosed that on-line gambling earnings
that were generated by on-line operators were calculated to have
reached more than $830 million dollars in 1998 alone. According to
Frost and Sullivan, it also revealed that the most played on-line
gambling that people played was poker and other variations of it, and
that most players came from North America, particularly the United
States and Canada.
In 2001,
there was an estimate of 8 million people, who in one way or the
other, actively participated in on-line gambling. Despite of some
legislation and other lawsuits that were imposed, the number of
people that indulge themselves in on-line gambling continued to rise
which created some concerns for long time casinos and establishments
that had seen a slight drop on their customers. By the end of the
year 2008, the on-line gambling industry was said to have earned a
total of $21 billion dollars in global sales. The Internet has made
it much possible for people to play their favorite games, besides the
traditional poker, which is still a favorite among aficionados, there
are also other forms of on-line gambling games that now being played,
thanks to the improvement in regards to Internet technology. A good
example of such games are Keno, Scratch-cards and Video Lottery
Terminal.
Even
traditional off-line gambling events have already joined the Internet
bandwagon and have started to capitalize in on-line gambling as a
very influential means to draw in crowds of avid gamblers who find
the convenience of on-line gaming in the comforts their homes. A few
traditional gambling activities that have decided to go on-line in
order to attract more patrons are soccer, horse racing, car racing,
rugby, boxing and basketball have now opened up to on-line betting.
Horse racing holds a substantial percentage on wagers that are made
on-line as on-line operators and betting exchanges offer a wide
variety of racing events that cover most of the major races all
around the world.
On-line
gambling is not only limited to computers as it is now also available
on most mobile smart phones that offer similar sites that cater to
the mobile market application. With improvements of mobile
technology, it was now possible for anyone with an Android smart
phone to make real time on-line wagers on a game of their choice,
provided that they have a decent Internet Wi-Fi connection. Many
on-line betting services have already implemented In-Play gambling
services that allows bettors to actually input their wagers as the
games are being conducted. This sort of betting allows people to
catch up with most on-line bets which are mostly sporting events.
This gives on-line gamblers a whole lot of other choices to bet on
besides the usual method of who would win or loose. Some options that
a bettor can put their money on are the final scores, overtimes, or
in the case of a soccer match, which player gets the yellow card
first or who gets fouled out.
On-line
gambling, the convenient means of betting and the ways of how to
acquire your winnings have always been the center of issues
concerning the security of transferring money on-line. The most
common method of betting and getting paid off is through the use of
credit cards, electronic checks, money order, certified checks and
even wire transfers. Most of the time, people that indulge themselves
in on-line gambling avail credits from the establishments that
provide the service. They can make bets on the games that they offer
through one of the most acceptable terms of payments that were
mentioned. People who frequently gamble on-line often use their
credit or debit cards and withdraw their winnings through the same
procedure. However, it is noted that most American banks prohibit
their clients to use their credit cards for the purpose of on-line
gambling and attempting to do so would disable their accounts for 24
hours.
In view
of this predicament, a number of electronic money services have been
catering to people who would like to fund their on-line credits for
the sole purpose of gambling, however, such companies like
Moneybrookers, Neteller and FirePay had already have already
discontinued their services in the United States. Accepted payments
in the form of wire transfer or checks are also given credit by some
on-line gambling service providers. In 1999, the National Gambling
Impact Study reported that Internet games, particularly on-line
gambling, provided instant “gratification” that it may cause an
evolving social problem which was termed “pathological gambling”.
On-line gambling was said to be 75% more habit inducing than that of
going to legally endorsed gambling establishments like that of Las
Vegas or in Atlantic City. Furthermore, the study shows that because
of the privacy involving private on-line users, other American states
which prohibit gambling are now able to participate in any form of
gambling which is totally beyond the governments jurisdiction and
control.
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