From the very beginning, the gambling industry has utilised technology as a way of staying relevant and accessible to its audience. Innovation in gambling has been one of the main drivers of the industry’s advancement and popularity, and today it is easier than ever to gamble wherever you are in the world. While brick and mortar casinos are on the decline, digital versions are continuing to grow and evolve. Here are some of the key ways that the gambling and technology industries have become intertwined.
Online Casinos
The rapid rise of the internet has meant that gambling businesses have had to drastically adapt, and fast, in order to keep up. Fortunately, for many companies, the change has been nothing but positive and has worked in their favour. At its core, gambling relies on simple calculations and the implementation of chance, which computers are capable of recreating. Plus, for virtually any gambling game, there’s only a small amount of information that has to be exchanged between the player and the server, so Internet-based gambling is easy to perform. The most common form of gambling online is poker, but since its inception, there have been many other games that have been transformed into digital versions, including blackjack, slots and even scratch cards. And there have even been business spin off of online gambling, acting as a comparison between sites such as Timeform.com.
Smartphones
Smartphones have made the world of gambling a fully portable activity that you can enjoy from anywhere in the world, whether you’re travelling, on your lunchbreak or just hanging out at home. What’s more, there’s no casino game that you can’t play from a smartphone, making the entire industry accessible. When using a smartphone, you can download apps for specific casino games and access virtual casinos that are compatible with mobile devices.
Security
As many people know, digital information can be reproduced and shared easily via the Internet. There have been cases in the past of online casinos being scammed through cameras which examine the order of cards to reveal how they would play out. But technology has removed this risk and identification and access rights are much more secure. Artificial Intelligence has made it much easier to spot suspicious behaviour too.
Cashless Payments
One of the most distinctive differences between a brick and mortar casino and a virtual one is the way payments are made. In online casinos, real cash can’t be used so they are replaced by the likes of Visa or PayPal. In fact, this method of gambling has become so popular in recent years that it’s something that even physical locations are starting to take on board. Many casinos and betting shops now providing integrated tablet kiosks and digital cash acceptors, so users can scan loyalty cards, pay without physical cash and use their mobile phones with integrated apps. Because so many people use their phones or cards to pay for items now, instead of using cash, the gambling industry has had to evolve and adapt to the demand for a digital means of paying for games.