The gambling industry is constantly evolving, with new brick and mortar casinos popping up around the world and online casinos emerging as popular virtual gaming centers. While the Internet itself radically changed how games are played globally — allowing greater access to gambling opportunities and creating new forms of interaction with fellow players — it is mobile technology that is driving yet another transformation of the gambling industry these days.
Gambling no longer requires that you leave your house. Online casinos offer a comprehensive gaming experience, with everything from slots to multi-player poker rooms where you can play against real people in a virtual environment. Advanced technology has allowed for the creation of reliable player tracking systems and most online casinos have a consistent record of honoring the winnings of their users.
As more and more users have access to broadband internet, the games themselves are becoming more intricate, with complex graphics and special effects. Just as slot machines have evolved in brick and mortar casinos, so they have in the world of online gambling. Online slots often feature video game quality effects, composed soundtracks and narratives that make the games more engaging. When it comes to multi-player games, online casinos offer an interface that allows you to easily interact with fellow users, replicating what a gambler experiences at an actual casino.
Nowhere is the evolution of the gambling industry more evident than in the world of mobile technology. Smartphones and tablets allow players to gamble from anywhere. A user can now play games online while waiting in line at the supermarket or while traveling on the train, for example. Many online casinos have released their own applications, which allow players to easily sign in and start playing while also offering features that let users track their earnings and payouts and review their playing history.
Already a major factor in the gambling industry, it is clear that mobile technology will continue to evolve and attract more users. Juniper Research, the independent mobile telecoms research organization that specializes in analyzing high growth opportunities on mobile platforms, predicts that as much as 100 billion dollars will move through gambling applications on mobile devices by the year 2017. This growth is partly due to increased access to online casinos via cheaper and more advanced mobile devices, but it is also due to projected changes in local laws in certain countries that will permit more people to gamble legally.
Brick and mortar casinos certainly aren’t going away, but it’s clear that online casinos represent a new era in the gambling industry. Mobile technology takes this evolution one step further by providing broader access and increased convenience. While physical casinos can sometimes struggle to attract customers, online casinos simply have to find their way onto the smartphones and tablets of prospective gamblers. Finally, as mobile devices themselves become more complex, we may even see the introduction of new gambling environments, such as virtual 3d casinos which would yet again fundamentally alter the gaming world.