Casinos have evolved over the years from brick-and-mortar locations to online casinos and more recently, to live casinos. As we continue to shift into a world where more and more is done online (such as shopping, meetings, and working), online and live casinos have continued to grow in popularity every year. Technology trends also allow for better quality service, which players constantly demand, and operators actively adopt. Although online casinos have achieved a high standard of quality over the years, players look for new experiences. So how did we come from the traditional casino and shift to live casino, and for what reasons?
Casino differences
First, what is the difference between a standard casino, an online casino, and a live casino? Standard casinos usually require a specific dress code, the customer is expected to play available games (poker, blackjack, roulette, etc.) in person. There are dealers at every table. An online casino offers the customer the ability to play most typical casino games via the web, on any device, from anywhere, with a live dealer. Live casinos are like online casinos in most aspects, however, with live casino games players are also able to communicate and interact with other game players.
The origins of live casinos
How did live casinos come about? Originally, the first online casino appeared in 1995 and games could not be played with real currency. At this point, cryptocurrency had not yet been invented and there was not a secure way to send and receive money securely through the internet. In 1996, a secure way to transfer funds via CryptoLogic was invented and after that, online casino games increased from one game to 15 games to 15-20 games per casino for most casinos.
At this point, technology speed was proving to be a large hurdle. Technology at that time was not advanced enough for online casinos to have a good user experience. The internet speed was so slow that online casino games had very blurry graphics. Once broadband was invented in the late 1990s, the first live casino game (Poker) was created. From there, live casinos have advanced to the level they are at today. Live casino games can now be played smootly, with high definition video transmission.
Why is the number of live casino users increasing?
Two major reasons are accessibility and convenience. Players no longer have to drive hours away to their nearest casino. Live casino games (as mentioned above) can be accessed from anywhere including the comfort of their homes. If a customer is awake in the middle of the night and wants to play a few rounds of blackjack, they can. Whereas most physical casinos close at least a few hours during the day for upkeep tasks (like cleaning the building).
Another reason more players are shifting to online and live casino games is the promotions/incentives that are offered during the sign-up process or the player’s continued patronage. Both regular and online/live casino games offer incentives. However, the types of incentives that are offered are different. Land casinos typically offer incentives such as food vouchers or discounts, free hotel stays, and free show tickets.
Live and online casinos offer sign-up bonuses which are usually in the form of credits or money. This can be helpful for newer casino players as it can provide extra credits/money to play with and therefore less money is spent out of pocket as the player gains experience and skills. While the online/live casino games can seem more tempting, there are usually terms and conditions that apply to the rewards such as a minimum spend amount. These terms and conditions should be kept in mind while playing to maintain the most positive experience possible.
Live casino games offer the best of both worlds – players have the accessibility and convenience they crave, incentives to get them started, with the socialization aspect that a traditional casino has. Live casino popularity will continue to grow for these reasons.
