The roots of gambling can be traced all the way back to the Old Stone Age. It seems to be part and parcel of human nature to bet on the outcome of things. Obviously, we’ve gone from rudimentary stone dice to high-end video slot machines over the centuries, but there is still a lot of evolution and development yet to come as far as gambling is concerned.
The world is going mobile and smartphones have virtually become an extension of the human form. It is not going to be long before smartphones are actually integrated with our very biology and we can already see glimpses of this in the form of smart wearables, virtual reality and other technologies. The Covid-19 pandemic has further accelerated the migration towards mobile. There is now a mobile app for almost everything. Want groceries delivered to your doorstep? Need a ride? Want to book movie tickets? Want a fresh new look? Whatever it is, there is probably an app that you can use. Gambling is no exception. While many jurisdictions around the world (including some US states) try to resist the legalization of online gambling, eventual legalization seems inevitable no matter how you slice it.
At the same time as legislators struggle to figure out whether or not to allow online gambling, the online gambling industry is waiting for no one. Developers are constantly coming up with new gaming products, features and integrating the newest available technologies to facilitate an unprecedented user experience. This includes the introduction of mobile casino gaming, mobile sports betting, fantasy sports, virtual sports betting, decentralized crypto payments and withdrawals, esports betting, live sports betting, live dealer casino gaming, VR casino gaming and more.
In a nutshell, the profitability because of the ongoing COVID-19 situation, will quite possibly encourage more states to work towards the legalization and regulation of iGaming in 2022 and years to come. This will pave the way for both online casinos as well as popular reference sites such as NoDepositRewards.com that offer no deposit codes to flourish.
In this article, we briefly go over the newest technologies that are shaping the future of online gambling.
Mobile
Smartphones have already become the device of preference for many. They are compact, portable and allow for on-the-go casino gaming and sports betting. In fact, modern online casinos are now developed using a ‘mobile first’ approach. This means that the casino is first designed and developed for mobile devices and then scaled up for fit PCs (traditionally the process had always been the other way around). This goes to show the emphasis online gambling operators place on mobile gaming, it is certainly the future of remote gambling.
Most casinos and sportsbook websites are developed using responsive technologies such as HTML5 which render them 100% mobile friendly. Additionally, top online gaming operators also offer mobile apps which patrons can download. These apps can be launched instantly and the user can go from zero to playing a state-of-the-art casino game in mere seconds, from anywhere and at any time.
Crypto and Decentralization
A quick Google search for crypto friendly sportsbooks and casinos will throw out innumerable results. There is already a plethora of online gambling services that support and accept payments and withdrawals via popular crypto currencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and more.
Many traditional problems that players encounter with fiat currencies in an online gambling setting are resolved with the use of crypto. Banks cannot decline these transactions (as some banks do when the merchant code is indicative of a gaming operator) because there are no banks or other middle parties involved at all. Crypto transactions are also fully anonymous and private which is much appreciated when it comes to online gambling. Further, crypto payments are lightning fast and dirt cheap.
eSports Betting Vs. Virtual Sports Betting
Video gaming has gone from being a perceived as a waste of time to becoming a profession. There are now teenage eSports players worth millions of dollars. In fact, the market is such a sleeping giant that there are millions around the world that actually watch live eSports streaming. Games such as Dota 2, CS: GO, PUBG, Fortnite and League of Legends rule the world of eSports for now. Betting on eSports is already offered at many top online gambling sites.
While betting on actual sporting events will always remain relevant, virtual sports betting seems to be gaining popularity among the younger, tech savvy bettors. Here, players can bet on computer simulations of real-life sports. These virtual sporting events are short, they offer realistic odds, they happen at high-frequency and they will never get cancelled or postponed due to a pandemic.
Virtual Reality Casinos
Technologies such as virtual reality and augmented reality are already here. These technologies and their accompanying hardware may still be in the nascent stages, but they already deliver life like experiences that are truly immersive and mind bending. You can only imagine what they would possibly look and feel like a few decades down the line. One of the biggest implementations of VR is in the gaming sector and online casino gaming and eSports is next in line. In fact, there are already some VR casinos that are compatible with popular VR headsets such as those from Oculus.