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History of Online Casinos – How Online Casinos Developed |
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| This article contains an overview of the history of online casinos across the world, with a little on the first online casino in UK as well. |
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History of Online Casinos – An Introduction |
| Traditional land-based casinos have been around for a long time now, with the first casino coming up in the 1940s during the time of Benjamin ‘Bugsy’ Siegel. However, the online casinos started surfacing just a few years ago, after the arrival of Internet in our lives.
The Internet changed a number of aspects of our daily lives, from communication to the way business was done. The reach and speed that the Internet provided were the main reasons for the gambling industry to move their operations to the online platform as well. That is when the first online casinos came into existence. Ever since, online casinos have seen a number of changes in terms of reliability, security, features, and games available.
In this article, we will discuss in brief the history of online casinos, from the time they first came into existence till the current day. |
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History of Online Casinos – The First Years |
| In the year 1994, the Government of Antigua Barbuda passed the Free Trade and Processing Zone Act. While that may itself not seem like a very significant event on its own, in the context of online casinos it is very significant, simply because a large number of online casinos and gaming rooms operating today obtain their licenses under this Act, and it is one reason why Antigua Barbuda remains one of the most widely accepted licensing jurisdictions for online gambling today.
The first online casino came into existence on August 18, 1995. The casino was Internet Casinos, Inc. (ICI). ICI started its operations on that day with an offering of 18 casino games. It also allowed users to access the National Indian Lottery online. This casino has, since the early days, been operating outside the United States to avoid punishment under US Government laws.
At around the same time, in the mid 1990s, two other online casinos, The Gaming Club and the Intertops Casino and Sports Book, made their online debuts. The Intertops Casino and Sports Book, in fact, was the first sports book to start operating online, offering decent payouts, a secure gaming environment, and good customer support.
In the year 1996, the second sports book launched operations online – the Interactive Gaming and Communications Corp. This went on to become a publicly traded company on NASDAQ. The company operates online, and also accepts bets over telephone. The calls are directed to Antigua through satellite on a toll free line.
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History of Online Casinos – U.K.’s First Online Casino |
| The first online casino based out of the U.K. was Atlantis. It was licensed by the Isle of Man. The owner of Atlantis, Sol Kerzner, was also the man who started a new trend in online casinos, the theme-based casinos. Besides being the first theme-based casino, Atlantis was also the first casino to bring in the concept of the VIP program as a mark of recognition to important players at the casino.
Over the years, the number of online casinos has been steadily increasing. Though this number has been on the rise, not many of them are based out of the United States, owing to the laws that consider online gambling illegal in that country. Most of these casinos are, therefore, based out of countries in the Caribbean Islands, and in Asia and Europe. |
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