Gone are the days when gambling at home had to be boring - with the advent of live casino games, you can enjoy all the fun and antics of the casino scene from the comfort of your front door. But, of course, that wasn't always the case.
In the early days, there was a struggle to even legalise the casino buildings themselves, let alone the advances in technology that we enjoy today. With that in mind, let's take a look at the journey that live casinos have taken, and how much the games have evolved to reach the place we recognise today.
The first casino...
As laws and regulations were constantly changing, gaming tables operated on riverboats in some parts of America until licences became available and permanent establishments were established. The first dedicated casino building was built in Renaissance Europe, mainly in parts of Italy and France. The original casino structure was vastly different from what we know today, and our traditional casino gaming environment didn't evolve until the 19th century, starting in North America. In Germany, for example, Online Casino ohne Limit was very popular.
The first online casino...
Online casinos made their debut in the mid-90s with full-featured gaming software developed by Microgaming, based on the Isle of Man. The site was launched in 1994, kick-starting a craze that now accounts for almost 50% of all casino gaming.
From there, separate gaming sites were formed. In 1998, Planet Poker was launched, a site that offered online poker games only to avid gambling enthusiasts. Surprisingly, even though dial-up internet access had its problems and the technology was not advanced enough to fully support such software, players still flocked to play online poker despite the drawbacks.
The first live online casino...
In its earliest stages, live online casinos only offered blackjack as a gaming option. This was after people discovered that simply playing the iconic card game on a computer lacked the atmosphere found in a real casino. Thus, the only solution seemed to be to add a little more interactivity to the home game.
As you can imagine, the initial effort still left a lot to be desired, as these were simply streaming games from an active land-based casino. Working in this way meant that some parts of the game were blocked by real players interfering with the cameras, and the video quality was not up to par either. It was also found that it was impossible to interact with the deal, as they would give most of their attention to the players who were physically sitting at the table, rather than looking through the screen.
So, how did they solve this? In 2006, a breakthrough was made and online gaming at online casinos began to be streamed from specialist studios designed specifically for the purpose. Now players at home could watch the dealer shuffle the cards or spin the wheel with the precision and clarity of a picture. They could interact with the dealer and feel as if they were actually sitting at the gaming table. And that's the standard you encounter when you play online today.
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