In a world defined by constant progress, it seems that the only constant thing in life is change; the same can be said for the gambling industry. Having come a long way since the ancient Romans would bet on their preferred gladiator or other historic betting methods, the industry is almost unrecognisable today. But exactly where does the future of gambling lie?
Gambling Today
It has been estimated that in recent years, the casino establishments and online gambling market is worth over 230 billion dollars (that’s a lot of dollars), with a large proportion of this sector encompassed by the new, online market, where players are shifting toward playing online roulette games as opposed to travelling to a casino for the real-life experience. The technological revolution that we are living through has skyrocketed gambling into one of the biggest industries in the world – amongst other giants – and it shows no sign of slowing down.
Online Gambling
The popularity of PCs, mobiles, and other electronic devices has made gambling so much easier and more accessible for the average player. Instead of having to dress up, travel, and spend money on other associated costs of attending a casino, players can simply pick up their phone, download an app, and explore digital versions of the traditional games as well as the array of new casino games that we all know and love. The ease with which players can do this nowadays is incomparable to that of the industry in its early days.
While it is difficult to pinpoint the exact beginning of online gambling, it is believed that early progress really started in the early nineties, when eager players could play a couple of clunky, low-performing casino games on an equally clunky, low-performing PC, which was probably the size of a small house at this point. The gameplay and software, were, of course, highly limited by the technology of the time, and so the wide array of slots and games available today is much more expansive.
The Future
With new technologies being developed all the time, one can’t help but wonder where the future of gambling will take us.
Imagine coming home on a Saturday evening, grabbing some refreshments, slipping on your special glasses and stepping into your living room. Instead of your living room, though, an ostentatious casino surrounds you, with holographic forms of other players, dealers, and staff, interactable slots and machines, and a generally immersive experience.
Well, with any luck, Zuckerberg looks to build a future that could like just look this. Though, this is some way off for now, if we look at the current state of the digital Metaverse technologies. It is not, however, an impossible dream. The integration of augmented, virtual, and physical reality could see a future of gambling that resembles this.
The concept is a crazy one, which is hard to conceive, but if you told the Romans that we’d be betting on the outcome of two YouTubers boxing against each other via an app on our mobile phones, they’d probably find that pretty hard to believe. So, you never know…
