How have technologies changed gambling?

When we look at the various technologies that are coming onto the market today, we are well aware of how much they have changed our lives. New inventions, models have had a greater or lesser impact on how we live, move around, treat ourselves, enjoy food, and daily entertainment. Over the course of more than 100 years, the new technologies introduced have also had an impact on gambling. In our article, we will try to show the most important changes and examples.

A bit of history

Let’s start from the beginning. Gambling is something that has been with us for a very, very long time. After all, gladiatorial battles were already being wagered on by spectators, and various forms of dice or other games of the time were played at the same time. The introduction of specific materials and technologies led to the development of, for example, paper playing cards. Over time, chips made of specific materials were also introduced, and the advent of plastic and other artificial materials gave us the opportunity to expand gambling. If we wanted to talk about the history of gambling today, it would be best to go back to the late 19th century. It was then that, through the use of special mechanisms, the first slot machines were developed, which are still used today by online casinos for money. They very quickly proved to be a success, becoming what we today call one-armed bandits. They quickly found their way into arcades and casinos. It was slots like these that contributed to the rapid growth of Las Vegas. Today, thanks to access to the Internet, everyone can count on not just one casino that offers its customers various gambling games, promotions and bonuses, but many such legal gambling platforms, one of which is Slotozen casino au.  We will now showcase those technologies that have changed gambling and are driving it today, and may also have an impact on the future of gaming.

Electronics

If we look at land-based casinos, which are nevertheless still popular today, there is no doubt that the introduction of electronics has changed their face forever. Back in the 1950s or 1960s, most casinos had craps tables, roulette, card games and some slot machines. However, just 10 years later, the first video slot machines appeared on the market. These were slot machines of the one-armed bandit type, but which incorporated electronics. It was the software that controlled the game and the screen displayed the reels, symbols and information about the bet, the winnings. It wasn’t long before electronics became a permanent fixture in casinos. Today, many casinos have chip cards that are scanned by the dealers when a hand is dealt. This allows all hand information to travel straight to the computer and system. Electronics contributed to the development of the slot machines themselves, where increasingly sophisticated and developed games were quickly introduced. As early as the 1980s, the first jackpot games appeared on the market, which were able and still are able to produce multi-million dollar winnings.

Computerisation and digitalisation

Another important change, and in our opinion a breakthrough, was first the use of computers for casinos and then the internet. Casino owners or gaming companies began to rely more and more on the use of computers. These were used for control systems, security, and the operation of jackpot networks. The biggest breakthrough came in the early 1990s. It was then that the first online casinos and betting companies were established. Admittedly, the interface of their websites was highly simplified, but for the first time in history it was possible to place bets without having to leave home. Not even a few years had passed and there were already dozens of betting sites on the market. Today, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of bookmakers and casinos alone. Digitisation has introduced some important changes:

• anyone could gain access to a casino or bookmaker — without leaving home
• the possibility of placing quick and simple bets
• unlimited number of games and bets
• the opportunity to introduce promotions, bonuses for players
• introduction of online payments, and later also prepaid cards, cryptocurrencies
• global system — a casino or bookmaker can be used from the other end of the world.

Thanks to digitalisation, casinos have just become something universally accessible and global, which, after all, cannot be said of classic solutions.

Live access

Both casinos and bookmakers today are dealing with live betting. Of course, they differ somewhat from each other, but they also have a lot in common. First of all, they make use of modern technology, which makes it possible to bet very quickly and often to settle the results. This presents itself as follows:

• Bookmaker — here we have results presented live, where the system is linked to events on the court, court, etc. Every change is updated immediately, so that odds are changed, bets settled. It is often possible to place very quick bets such as: who will shoot first, commit a foul, have a corner kick, from an out.
• Casino — here we have a combination of the traditional casino and the modern online casino. We have a studio where the croupier conducts the game. Thanks to a system of cameras and microphones, we can see and hear what is happening in the studio. In addition, the system reads out the results immediately and presents them in virtual form.

Thanks to the live access, you can experience much more excitement and, in the case of the casino, feel like you are in Las Vegas.

Miniaturisation

Research over the last few years has shown us that, year on year, more and more people are choosing to place their bets from their mobile phone. This is a huge change from what we had 10 or 15 years ago. The era of miniaturisation was of course ushered in years ago, but the most important event was undoubtedly the launch of the first iPhone. It gave people something akin to a small computer in their pocket. There is no denying that very quickly other companies copied this idea, and today practically all of us use a smartphone. It is so convenient that you don’t have to be tethered to a computer. You can place your bets on your bed, on the sofa, on your way to work or even on holiday while you are lying happily on the beach. It is not unlikely that one day it will even be possible to place bets from a smartwatch, especially as we already control other devices a lot using voice commands.

What else is in store for us?

New technologies are becoming more and more prevalent in our lives and it is sometimes difficult to keep up with them. Certainly, one of those that could have an impact on gambling at casinos or bookmakers will be augmented reality. There are already the first games on the market where people using VR systems lead a second life online. It is therefore not out of the question that the first VR casinos may soon be established, where we will be able to feel like we are in a real gambling place, with croupiers, numerous games, but we will still be able to do it without leaving our home. We will certainly be surprised by something more than once.

New technologies are having an impact on various aspects of our lives. As we have shown, every major change also has a strong impact on the gambling industry. This only proves that it is worthwhile to be up-to-date.