Sheldon Adelson, the late CEO of the Las Vegas Sands, famously called online gambling “fool’s gold.” Adelson felt iGaming was much inferior to Vegas casinos and that it would never succeed. He was wrong.
Not only is iGaming a multi-billion industry, but it’s also more popular than brick-and-mortar casinos. Importantly, it will continue to grow as more U.S. states legalize online casinos and sportsbooks.
In this article, we’ll provide insightful information about legal betting sites in the US. More, we’ll break down some of the most innovative things introduced by various CEOs in the sector. Let’s get started.
Live Casino Gaming
Introduced by Evolution Gaming in 2006, live dealer casinos use software and video technology to provide real-time, human-human gambling experiences. The result is that people have more reasons to gamble online.
Evolution is the biggest supplier of live casino gaming. It works with more than 50 online casinos. Evolution offers all major table games, from roulette and blackjack to poker and Keno.
Evolution is not the only live casino game provider. Pragmatic Play, Microgaming, and Authentic Gaming also offer live software. These companies have rooms decorated to resemble true Las Vegas casinos.
In the rooms, there’s a human dealer, a gaming table, lightning, and live gaming equipment. When playing live casino gaming, you connect to the human dealer through a video link. You can see and interact with the dealer and other players in the room.
In-Play Betting
In-play betting refers to gambling on a game after it has begun. Live betting requires quick-decision making. It also requires that you watch the match—bookies change odds constantly.
Picture this. England has a soccer game against the US. The Three Lions were the favorites before the match started. But after 20 minutes, the US is leading 2-0. Predictably, sportsbooks would adjust the odds to now favor the US. If England equalizes the match by half-time, the odds will change again.
In other words, in-play betting adds excitement to betting. It produces a lot of great betting opportunities. But you have to be quick with your betting decisions. That being said, you can bet on multiple sports.
If you miss the chance to place in-play bets in one game, you can wager on a different game. All you need is to commit your time. If you have no way of watching a game, avoid live betting.
Mobile Gaming
We know—gambling CEOs didn’t invent mobile gaming. Nokia was the first major cellphone brand to feature a mobile game: the snake game. Over the years, casinos embraced mobile gaming to capture the fast-growing smartphone industry.
Initially, gambling executives faced a challenge trying to offer their games to smartphone players. The major leaders in the industry—Google and Apple—both didn’t want gambling apps on their Play Stores.
With both major play stores rejecting gambling apps, casino CEOs had to be innovative. So, they embraced HTML5 web scripting language immediately after it became available in 2014.
Since then, online gambling sites have not had a need to create native mobile apps. They design web apps that run on mobile browsers like Chrome and Safari. All a player requires to gamble online is a smartphone with an Internet connection.
Bonuses for All
Marketing an online gambling site is difficult. This is especially true for gambling sites that launched in the 1990s and 2000s. Back then, iGaming was illegal in most countries. Also, not everyone was supportive of gaming.
To create awareness about their brands, gambling sites invented bonuses for all players. New customers now receive no deposit and first deposit offers. Loyal players have a plethora of promotions.
To spice up the experiences, casinos personalize their promotions. People who love slots can claim free spins to play the best-rated slots. On the other hand, poker and blackjack fans can grab live casino promotions.
Then there are offers for VIPs. They range from generous first deposit bonuses to cruise ship tickets and cash prizes. Although you need a big bankroll to qualify for VIP rewards, you may earn VIP rewards for simply being a loyal player.
You see, most casinos now have tiered point-based programs. Everyone starts at the bottom. As you continue to bet at the same casino, you increase your points. You also rise through the tiers of loyalty, which helps you unlock better rewards over time.
Crypto Gambling
It seems like everyone online casino now accepts crypto. But it hasn’t always been this way. Back when bitcoin was worth less than $10, most industries would avoid it.
Banks discouraged crypto payments. News networks called it a scam while governments associated it with criminals. These days, bitcoin is worth over $20,000.
Many banks now use it. E-commerce stores support crypto payments while casinos are creating slots based on the blockchain. For the uninitiated, the blockchain is crypto’s decentralized ledger of records.
The blockchain stores data safely and permanently. It also allows developers to create decentralized casinos, sportsbooks, and games. This is why you can now play a variety of slots using bitcoin at leading websites.
Blockchain-based games don’t always have the best features. But they’re provably fair—you can check the software to confirm that you won fairly.
Live Chatbots, AI, and VR
Artificial Intelligence is all the rage. From Google to Microsoft—big tech companies are racing to create the next ChatGPT. In the meantime, online casinos provide support through live chatbots and human support.
Chatbots help answer frequently asked questions. On the other hand, human staff interacts with players to help them resolve any initials they may be experiencing. Soon, casinos will probably integrate AI to help players get answers to all their problems.
Additionally, gambling sites will have VR-powered games. To be fair, you can play a handful of VR slots. However, price constraints make it difficult for developers to create more VR content.
With time, VR gaming equipment will become affordable. And when this happens, you can expect casinos to tap into AI and VR to provide more immersive experiences.
