Poker Players Alliance Casino & Gambling Articles 2024
It’s not that hard to notice how rapidly the online gambling industry is growing these days. With its estimated worth passing $60 billion in 2019, the whole industry is expected to hit $94 billion in 2024. There are multiple reasons why, the primary being safety, accessibility, and convenience of online casinos. Because of this growing popularity and new audiences joining the game, online casinos need to adapt and keep evolving.
Online casinos all over the world target various audiences, and offer a variety of games, from online versions of the classics for traditionalists (and detailed guides, e.g., how to play online poker – winbig.bg) to the whole new concepts introduced to attract new players. Online casinos use the benefits of technology to provide their customers with a unique, more authentic, and entertaining experience.
If you’re curious to know more about online casino trends that will definitely play a significant role in 2024, you have come to the right place. Here are some of the key trends to watch in the next months:
1. Embracing blockchain
There’s no point in denying the growing importance of cryptocurrencies. Many people are deciding to check what this is all about every day, but it turns out that the whole blockchain technology can also be highly beneficial for online casinos and their players.
Blockchain is a technology that doesn’t have a central location. In essence, there are time-stamped records and non-editable blocks, all managed by a large number of computers, which are using cryptography to make sure that all this data is secure. This makes them safer and almost impossible to hack.
Online casinos have begun to discover these advantages, incorporating this technology in different operations, especially allowing payments in cryptocurrencies. Both sides of the transactions can benefit from this solution.
Customers don’t have to provide anyone with their personal information – only the wallet ID that consists of numbers and is impossible to be linked with the person. It’s impossible to access and manipulate the data, so they can also be sure that all the games are fair and know which ones passed the transparency test. Another advantage is that cryptocurrencies aren’t fiat currencies; therefore, they can’t be frozen or confiscated by the government.
It’s better for the casinos, too, as it eliminates the risk of credit card fraud, plus, there aren’t any third parties involved in the transaction.
There are regular casinos that accept cryptocurrency payments along with ordinary methods, but there are also those that were built on blockchain technology from the start. The latter are safer and more reliable, plus they are quicker and easier to establish.
2. More live dealer games
One of the commonly-repeated disadvantages of online gambling has always been a complete lack of human interactions. Live dealer versions of popular games are the solution for those who want to extend their online casino experience and feel a little bit like in the real one. If you choose one of the tables, thanks to the live streaming technology, you will have the chance to play with the real croupier, observe how they deal the cards, and talk to them (and, very often, other players) via chatbox.
3. Augmented and virtual reality solutions
Augmented and virtual reality technologies go one step further than live dealer games (a huge step further).
Virtual reality solutions have finally become accessible for regular players; it still isn’t very cheap, but it’s not a luxury anymore. That’s why online casinos started using it to provide their customers with even more authentic and entertaining casino experience. You have the possibility to immerse yourself in the gambling environment, walk around the casino, talk to other players and dealers, play with real people without giving out your identity. Virtual reality delivers the benefits of brick-and-mortar casinos, but it eliminates the risks linked to real-life gaming.
Augmented reality is something similar; it’s a technology currently used by such games as Pokémon Go. You don’t need any additional equipment to create a whole new environment, like in the case of VR, but your device will change the environment that already exists around you.
These solutions are not yet widespread, but they are gradually gaining fans. It can be expected that the number of casinos offering VR games will increase in the next months.
4. More skill-based games
People who have been entering adulthood in the last years are the ones who grew up playing video and computer games, of which a vast majority are skill-based games. Those people don’t like to bet their money entirely on luck. That’s why online casinos need to adapt if they want to attract that audience. Game creators and developers are spending a lot of time these days working on more skill-based games.
5. Mobile gambling
A significant percentage of people in the world own a smartphone right now, plus, the average quality of mobile internet connection has significantly improved lately. What’s more, people are more likely to browse the web and play games on their mobile devices than on their computers. For example, according to FacBet, more than half of their players enter their betting platform via mobile devices. Betting and games like slots or roulette are perfect for playing whenever you have some time to kill – while queueing, commuting, or waiting. That’s why online casinos need to have optimized, well-working mobile versions of their games.
There has also been a rise in F2P games (Free to Play). They are not for making money directly, but providers have noticed that players are eager to pay some small amounts of money to upgrade other features of these games.
The future of online gambling
Online casinos have been around for some time now, but it seems like the next months can be revolutionary for this industry. More and more casinos have been implementing new technological solutions and getting positive feedback from their players. Also, the global coronavirus pandemic is not without significance. A lot of people are starting to discover the benefits of playing online right now, and many of them will continue to gamble online after this is all over. Online casinos need to keep up with their customers’ ever-changing habits, and for now, they aren’t letting them down.
