The initial online casino opened in 1996 and is still around today. In fact, there are many casinos that opened the very first couple of years that gambling has been on the Internet (and hundreds since), making it one of the most successful online industries ever. Nonetheless it was not always success and easy roads for the internet casino industry, as you will quickly see.

Even before InterCasino opened their virtual doors in 1996, there is a ton of opposition. Lawmakers and anti-gambling groups lined up to take their pot shot at the upcoming online casino openings. But after the High Commission of Antigua and Barbuda in the West Indies passed the “Free Trade and Processing Zone Act”, the pieces were in place to create online casino history. They started the Division of Gaming to offer out the very first official jurisdictional licenses to ensure that potential operators could now legally start their online casinos. Since the US and other big countries refused to offer out these licenses, this can be a huge part of online casino history.

Luckily since then, many jurisdictions have started issuing licenses throughout the world, including Canada, the UK and more. But that list stops lacking the United States, which still steadfastly will not issue licenses.

The first online casinos were met with plenty of skepticism, as sending information like charge cards, names and addresses over the internet was still met with plenty of suspicion. Online casinos were thought to be shady or run by the mob. Slow connections meant stalled programs and graphics and a lack of quality software providers in the fledgling industry meant plenty of stalled platforms.

Enter CryptoLogic and Microgaming, two online casino history pioneers. CryptoLogic sought out of their way to offer encryption technology to the internet casinos, and therefore sensitive information like bank card numbers were now safe from hackers. Microgaming was among the first and still one คาสิโนออนไลน์ เครดิตฟรี 100 บาท of the greatest software providers, making crisp graphics and realistic sound when these things were still hard in the future by online. Cable modems and DSL lines caused it to be faster and more convenient to start downloading software, with less lag and connection problems.

All that was left to do was to earn trust, which started happening in 1999. That was the year that Microgaming, in an attempt to exhibit the honesty on most online casinos, struck an agreement with PriceWaterhouseCoopers, one of the most famous and honest accounting firms in the world. PWC agreed to start auditing the internet casinos’ payout percentages, to prove they did indeed payout large sums of money- in many cases, significantly more than Las Vegas casinos.

Due to all of these developments, the newest millennium started the Golden Age for online casinos. The first IPO for online casino stock became available, more jurisdictions came online and the very first Progressive Jackpots awarded millions to lucky customers. Business was booming.

Soon after, Poker began to dominate the airwaves, and Poker Rooms, many associated with online casinos, became all the rage. With the boom in online Poker Room technology, the internet casino industry took in billions in 2004, with profits expected to triple and maybe even quadruple by 2010.

Unfortunately, there will continue being a lot more to write about online casino history later. This is because a continues to have opposition in several camps, which shows no sign of stopping. People like Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona introduce bill after bill attempting to shut down online casinos, ensure it is illegal for US citizens to play at them, or at the very least ban US charge cards from getting used to fund online casino gambling.

Though none of these measures has ever passed, they continue being introduced. With the surge in popularity lately, though, it doesn’t appear to be they’ll make much headway. Hopefully, which means that the following chapter of online casino history has more bright spots than legal ones.