2020 has been a challenging year for all of us and we’re all glad that it has (almost) come to a close. Brick and motor casinos haven’t had it easier either way. With the pandemic discouraging social interactions, especially amongst those with underlying conditions, a few casinos have had to close doors indefinitely. Gambling is an “adapt to survive” industry and the smart casinos have gone online. People are playing at online casinos more than before. Or should we say that this is gambling from home?
The number of new users gained every day is the best way of highlighting a casino’s growth according to the Dutch gambling portal idealecasinos.nl and this makes sense. From March this year to late October, most casinos have seen new registrations grow up to 255% in a day. The COVID pandemic was at its peak in March and it’s not a coincidence that casino registrations grew exponentially at this period. People were forced to stay indoors and most have experienced some mental states, never experienced before.
To cope with them more easily, many have turned to online entertainment. This resulted in the massive rise of people gambling online. Some articles wrote that the average number of adults gambling online daily started exceeding 33 million. That’s a massive market for online casinos. And let’s face it, the number of times people had for themselves increased overnight, with the arrival of the lockdown and other covid-19 related measures. An average man is not used to this, giving the speed of life we’ve been leading for decades.
It came as a shock and people started entertaining themselves the best way they could. Internet was there to provide the platform. There may be other factors contributing to this growth such as a change in government policies – like the Ukraine government legalizing online casinos – but we strongly believe that the “work from home” mentality is responsible.
Online casinos are heavily investing in web apps. These apps work just like the apps you would download from the Play Store/app store except that they’re accessed directly through an internet browser. No download required. These web apps work on all internet-enabled devices, including mobile phones that may have smaller screens. Heck, you can play almost all casino slots from your 4K smart TV.
Seeing in what direction the situation is developing, the world’s most famous casino venues, like the ones from Vegas developed a technique to stream online table games. In cooperation with online casinos, many have started organizing games of poker, live-streamed. This came as the icing on the cake for the passionate gamblers who enjoy the interaction with the dealers and other people as well. Not all of them enjoy clicking, there are some who were addicted to the atmosphere found in the casino venues. The food, the booze, pretty women, music, and other advantages Vegas-like casinos were offering in the normal times.
On top of all the advantages, online casinos offer, there are one real-time casino lovers especially enjoy now. It’s the mute chat button. Yes, they all enjoy human interaction, but once they start losing and suffer trash-talk from other players, the fun ends. In the casino venue, one had to stay focused on the game and pretend it’s not bothering them. Today, there’s a suitable escape strategy, and it’s called the mute chat option. No further distractions. One can say that the whole social life had to move online.
Those who like to keep their gambling activity more discreet can enjoy even more, since casinos started offering many attractive advantages, to provoke gamblers to stay online. AI may also play a part in that a casino’s landing page is modified on the go for an overall better experience where players get personalized offers but we’re not yet there.
While everyone is giving credit to the pandemic for this casino explosion, we strongly believe that online casinos have earned this attention they’re attracting. We’ve seen software developers like NetEnt and Evogaming coming up with games that we’d say are beginner-friendly. Look at all the new slots. They’re easy to play, no skill is required and there’s no learning curve to them.
As long as you can hit the big spin button at the bottom center of the screen, you can play them. In fact, the best slots have an auto spin feature where it will run continuously until a given condition is met- like you’ve won X times your starting amount. Compare this to table games like poker and baccarat where players have to spend years familiarizing with the rules, trying out new strategies and techniques, and even learning to read their opponents’ hands.
The online gambling community is on the rise because of many opportunities that are being offered now by gambling, like winning a bitcoin. 2024 has been a year of many surprises, one of the biggest was related to the crypto world. After some time of being stuck at a low value, the most famous crypto coin started rising, almost reaching its all-time highest value. The predictions are still positive, saying the rise will continue through the next year. Online casinos saw this as an opportunity and have introduced a crypto gambling option.
Today, those who own crypto can gamble by depositing them, and also have a chance at winning some more. Everyone knows they are considered as valuable as gold, at this moment. Needless to say, how safer online gambling became thanks to blockchain technology.
Casinos would say that the COVID pandemic has been a “once in a millennium” opportunity for them to grow the customer base. And it has been rapidly growing ever since it all started.
History crash course: There were no casinos in 1346 when the Black plague hit us.
Online gamblers have always picked a side, they either play at online casinos or at sportsbooks; never at both. In May when the pandemic was at its peak, sporting activities in Europe were halted. The premier league, which is the most followed soccer championship in the world was stopped. Sports bettors had to take their activities elsewhere and online casinos were welcoming.
They were mesmerized by the generous welcome offers casinos were giving them. Sportsbooks are aren’t as generous with their free bets and bonuses. You’d be lucky to get a $10 free bet. Here were online casinos giving them up to 200% bonuses on their first deposits and complimentary free spins.
Again, online casinos had instant winnings, unlike in soccer where they had to wait for 90 minutes. Gamblers that used to play at sportsbooks had found a new home.