Why Online Gambling Has Become So Popular
If one considers the number of online casinos, poker, sports betting, bingo and even financial spread betting websites now operating around the clock, it is difficult to remember that these busy sites represent an industry that never even existed before 1994. This was the year in which the government of Antigua-Barbuda passed an act to establish the world’s first licensed regulatory body under whose authority the provision of offshore gaming services then became legal.
Today this is just one of several such licensing authorities that have emerged across the globe as more and more countries begin to accept that a regulated online gambling industry offers more benefits than does banning. So, just why has this industry grown so phenomenally?
There are many factors that appear to be responsible for the explosive growth in online gambling. Once the initial suspicions regarding internet wagering had subsided, punters began to see that, when compared with a visit to a local land-based casino, a flutter in cyberspace offered several attractive advantages and not the least of these was the convenience of playing from the comfort of home.
The next big advantage lay in the fact that, unlike the bricks-and-mortar venues, online gambling outlets offer help to those for whom the whole experience is brand new. With no previous knowledge of roulette or blackjack, a casino debut can become a daunting and perhaps off-putting experience. By contrast, most online gambling sites offer a wide range of detailed tutorials and tips for the novice as well as the chance to chat directly to one of their highly trained support staff if required.
From a financial viewpoint, online gambling invariably offers better odds of a win and happily accepts much lower stakes that are normally well below those acceptable to their land-based cousins. In the vast majority of cases, online payout ratios are set well above those of live venues and are subject to regular audits by independent bodies who then publish their findings for all to inspect. This exceptional transparency provides the online casino's guarantee of fair play.
The use of sophisticated software to guarantee random outcomes, secure payments, privacy and consistent payout ratios has done much to lure punters from the local casinos and card rooms. The more recent development of browser based games that require no download and mobile games lobbies that may be accessed from a cellular phone has lead to even greater migration.
The online gaming industry is huge and fiercely competitive with sites constantly vying to preserve and grow their market share. The result is a plethora of incentives in the form of welcome bonuses, free spins, giveaways, promotional events that would be beyond the budget of most bricks-and-mortar establishments with their huge overheads. Slot machines with progressive jackpot payouts that read like international telephone numbers are made possible and irresistible by the connection of huge numbers of participating casinos such as that made possible by the Microgaming Progressive Network.
Recently, the global recession, swine flu, blizzards and fears of crime have all provided punters with additional reasons to stay at home and pursue their gambling thrills in cyberspace. Whatever initially attracts the game players to the internet it has become quite clear that, for a great many of them, it is destined to be the start of a lifelong love-affair.