What’s in the Cards for Online Gambling: From VR to Cryptocurrencies
As the notorious pandemic locks millions behind the doors of their homes, online gambling is flourishing: the global online gambling market is expected to surpass $92.9 billion by the end of 2023, an unimaginable 30% surge from the current value. Since the development of the first online casino in 1994, online games have branched into dozens of types so that everyone could quench his thirst for excitement, thrill, and mind-boggling wins.
Live dealer games, VR games, cryptocurrencies…how far can gambling go? As online gambling breaks all barriers, it might be reasonable to take a deep breath and pay tribute to the technological breakthrough that made it possible to include in the best games the world has ever been able to offer. Without further ado, let’s get a taste of the most mouth-watering pieces of the technological pie!
Cryptocurrencies
Having taken the world by storm, cryptocurrencies are now accepted by the majority of casinos, including Malina casino, allowing private and lightning-fast payments with minuscule fees. Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, and Litecoin are by far the most popular choices, but it doesn’t mean the status quo will remain unchanged forever.
Cryptocurrencies are still an infant, and a bratty one and with many unresolved issues, the main of which are scalability and a proper balance between anonymity, transaction fees, and transaction speed. On the one hand,
- Bitcoin is expensive as a means of payment, rather pseudonymous than anonymous, and slow (when the network is congested, it takes hours and days for the money to arrive!).
- Ethereum cannot effectively scale as well (at least, at the time of writing).
On the other hand, there are gazillions of cryptocurrencies to choose from, including the one superior to both Bitcoin and Ethereum in many regards, which means there’s only one alternative down the road: either BTC and ETH improve themselves, or the much-awed network effect – the one that keeps the giants afloat – will fall apart in favor of technologically superior solutions. Anyway, though, there’s no doubt the win-win cooperation between crypto and online gambling is promising and hasn’t depleted its reserves.
Live Dealer Games
As brick-and-mortar casinos are getting closed ‘until further notice,’ players are looking for a decent substitution, and they find it in live dealer games, the ones replicating the real-life experience and even somehow enriching it. It was impossible a few decades ago, but now you can play any game you like – poker, blackjack, roulette, literally anything – from the comfort of your home, soaking up a real gambling experience as if you’re physically present in the casino hall.
The technologies that allowed live dealer games are relatively simple – increased bandwidth and improved cameras – but that doesn’t take away from the experience you get while playing face to face with a knowledgeable dealer. It goes without saying that you can also chat with other players and customize the view by adding or removing the on-screen elements the way you like. The only fly in the ointment is that live dealer games can only be played for real money, but it’s not a big deal since the same games can be played for free in the against-the-machine mode.
VR Games
Bringing the immersion to the next level, VR has been used in gaming for a couple of years, but not that much in gambling. However, since the technology of virtual reality progresses itself – and becomes less cumbersome and cheaper for an average user – and casinos are looking for new ways to entertain customers, there’s no doubt that VR casinos will soon flood the market.
On that note, there are already dozens of platforms offering VR games, such as Jack and the Beanstalk, so you can try it out immediately after you finish reading this. What’s more, it’s not even necessary to buy a headset or any other expensive equipment because you can play VR games just like that in your mobile or desktop browser, though with a lower quality than if you would wear a costly gizmo.
Closing Thoughts
As we’re well into the third decade of the century – the fact impressive by itself for old fanboys of fruit pokies and one-armed bandits – mixed realities and artificial intelligence are growing in significance and has every chance to become the backbone of the new paradigm of gambling, the one enabling a top-notch casino experience from any device and anywhere in the world.