The gambling experience has become much more than just sitting at the table stone-faced counting cards. Today, players are looking for convenience, entertainment, and personalization to sit at the tables longer, shoveling cash and hoping for the best. The online casino industry answered the call and fulfilled the expectations with live betting and crypto casinos.
Online gaming has come a long way from just vivid graphics and loud music. The whole industry is flourishing with a whole plethora of games, from traditional table games to megaways slots, with a wide variety of personalized options, rewards and bonuses. In fact, online casinos exceeded expectations by incorporating live casinos that changed the way the games were played, and possibly sending the traditional casinos into history.
Emergence of Live Casinos and Live Betting Platforms
Live casinos appeared as a response to players’ need to play in a casino that resembles the traditional one but still enjoy the convenience of the online platforms. Before live casinos emerged on the scene, online casinos were based on RNG, the system that randomly picks the winning combinations. Players had their suspicions about the whole randomness and were wary of immersing themselves into the game. Trust issues arose as soon as online casinos became popular, with the growing number of users who were unsure of the fairness of the Random Generating Numbers system.
Online casinos had to change their way of doing business and build some kind of relationship with their consumers. This is how they came up with live casinos where RNG is completely eliminated and replaced with humans. Now, you can play any table game, poker, baccarat, or even roulette, and have people on the other side shuffling and dealing cards and spinning the wheel. Everything is live streamed to the players, which adds to the social aspect of gambling. Dealers and players are in real-time, just at the different locations. They interact, and chit chat, and players can see and hear the person on the other side calling bets.
This was a revolutionary move on the part of online platforms that struggled for years to appear more like traditional casinos. Finally, they can build trust and more personalized relationships with their audience, who in return, praise the experience. It was a trade-off, online casinos offered transparency and got loyalty in return. It was a win-win for everyone involved.
With live casinos came live betting, and later crypto casinos. Unlike ordinary betting platforms, live betting was so much more involved with its consumers. Hardcore fans loved the fact that they could follow scores as they happened, and place their bets while the game was still going. They could also get into discussions among themselves, or listen to live experts commenting about the game, players, strategies, scores, injuries, coaching staff, referees, and every other detail that may come up during the game.
The fact that they could change their bets, or place them in the first place once the game started was a novelty at the time. Also, fans organized their online communities where they could casually reflect on the game, comment on their bets, celebrate winnings and mourn losses.
Online platforms quickly recognized the potential of live casinos and live betting phenomena, and offered players more personalized rewards and bonuses. High-definition video streaming, multiple camera angles, and interactive chat swiftly became the norm in online betting, and the audience flocked to the new way of placing bets. They can even interact with players after the game where some of them answer questions about the previous game and plans for the future. In short, it completely changed the way people are betting and playing.
Online casinos also recognized the potential of AI and the enhancement it could bring to the platforms. To place a bet, every player has to create an account first, leaving his name, location, preferences and so on. AI combed through millions of users’ accounts to figure out their personal feelings about the platform, their likes and dislikes, sports they like to bet on and times with the most traffic on the website. All of this data was used to come up with personalized offers. For example, if one bettor loves football, he will probably get some bonuses and rewards ahead of the World Cup that will make the betting more attractive and fun.
Innovations boosted the profits of online casinos while upgrading users’ experience. Statistics say that the global casinos and casino games market is projected to reach $226.90 billion in 2025, with a significant portion attributed to online and live casino platforms. Traditional hotel-casino combo is quickly becoming outdated, with many people switching to online platforms due to the convenience, and more money left to play the games instead of spending it on hotels, bars, and buffets. With live dealers and a live betting system in place, the sky’s the limit really.
Introduction of Cryptocurrencies
Regardless of all the innovations in online casinos, the whole industry was stuck with the old banking system. It was slow, expensive and vulnerable to bugs and hacking. It seemed like there was no solution in sight until cryptos entered the mainstream. For a long time, cryptocurrencies were considered a niche, something virtual, unrealistic and unreliable.
Being faced with financial institutions that were not willing, or had the need, to change anything in their policies, online casinos decided to give a chance to this new niche that everyone’s talking about. Cryptocurrencies did not disappoint.
One of the first things that players were attracted to was enhanced security and anonymity. Those two were always the issue when playing online – your bank will know exactly on which platform you play, how much you spent, and how often you are visiting. In other words, there is no privacy, let alone anonymity. All that information can be used later against you when you’re applying for a mortgage or a car loan. Your spending habits can play a role, when in reality it’s no one’s business, certainly not your bank’s. So, when cryptos offered anonymous transactions with the added privacy and security of sensitive data, players jumped at the opportunity.
Lower fees and faster processing times were another selling point that appealed to consumers. With the traditional banking system, transfers could take days to go through since a third party was necessary for online transactions. This was a massive inconvenience for bettors who wanted to take action immediately and place their bets as the games were unfolding. Also, international customers would have even longer waiting times since the payment had to go through several different banks due to local laws and regulations. Fees were another thing where players were getting scammed, especially if they were paying in different currencies. Bank transfers are generally expensive, $40-$50 per transaction.
Crypto eliminated most problems. First, transactions take seconds if there’s no traffic on the network, and usually cost a few dollars. To players, this looked like a dream come true. International customers didn’t have to pay currency exchange rates that would usually cost them an additional $10-$20. All of this, when put together, players and online casinos saw no need to go through the hassle of transferring money via financial institutions.
Further, players from around the world were suddenly free from their local banks and their policies. People could enjoy betting whenever, without the wait, or worry whether or not the transaction aligns with the law. Cryptos are not governed by any country, it’s a decentralized open network that operates independently of any strict regulations.
Challenges and Regulatory Considerations
Despite the advantages, the integration of cryptocurrencies into the gambling industry presents challenges. Many governments don’t like the fact that they don’t have any records of transactions stripping them off of any taxable amounts.
Some implemented laws about cryptocurrencies in order to prevent any illegal activities, mostly money laundering. The legal status of cryptocurrencies varies by jurisdiction, creating uncertainty for operators and players. Some countries have embraced crypto gambling, while others have imposed strict regulations or outright bans.
Another issue is the eternal problem of cryptocurrencies’ volatility. They are trading assets at the market, and as such they remain susceptible to constant change of value. So, for instance, if a player won a certain amount, by the time he transfers that into fiat, the amount of money might be less than the original due to the currency falling for a fraction of a percent. Also, this can be a problem for online casinos. The payout might be more than what they should pay due to the loss of value in a certain currency.
So, instability is still an issue, and some are still refraining from using digital coins due to their unpredictability.
Cryptocurrencies offer more security and transparency but at a price. As stated, it’s based on blockchain technology which is an open network. This means that any developer can access it in order to improve or upgrade the technology. However, it is an open network and no one can be sure who exactly has access at all times. Some cybercriminals have used the opportunity several times already to swipe information from it, leaving users with empty e-wallets. There are always millions of developers on the network, but there are no guarantees that they will catch every misuse or illegal attempt and prevent it. If you’re buying, selling, or betting with cryptos, the best way to go is to have a cold wallet. That way, when you have a physical wallet with your unique code, no one can access it without a very long password. Just make sure you know your passcode.
The Blend Between Live Casinos and Cryptocurrencies
All things considered, the advantages outweigh the flaws. The risk of using cryptos is very small with major advantages that can and will make your life easier.
- Improved User Experience: The seamless integration of cryptocurrencies allows players to fund their accounts and withdraw winnings quickly, with lower fees and no international currency exchange rates.
- Attracting a Broader Audience: The combination of live casinos and cryptocurrency appeals to a younger audience that prefers modern systems over old-fashioned, sluggish bank transfers.
- Innovation and Competitive Advantage: Operators that adopt both live casino technology and cryptocurrency payments position themselves as trailblazers in the industry, gaining a competitive edge against other platforms.
Future Outlook
It looks like there is nothing that can stop innovations in online casinos, live casinos, or crypto casinos. New technologies are underway to change the whole ecosystem of online gaming. Several other things are in the works and will probably enter the mainstream in a couple of years.
The incorporation of VR technology can change the way we live, and play. With a VR headset, you can be anywhere, anytime, experiencing anything you like while staying in your home. You can play, watch the game, place wagers, and interact with other fans in your pajamas. We already have games that can be played with VR, and it’s just a matter of time when we are about to sit down for a game of poker wearing the headset.
In the near future, to eliminate the fear of volatility of cryptocurrencies it’s possible to use stablecoins which are connected to fiat and are more stable. This will calm the players and the businesses about the unpredictability of the value of cryptos.
Regulatory concerns will remain for some time, there’s no way around it. Governments around the world, under the blanket of fighting criminal activities, will try to regulate crypto to some extent. There is some substance to it though, since no one wants crypto to gain a bad image of a fraudulent scheme and criminal enterprise. So, some laws will be put in place and if you own any digital coins it’s important to keep track of any new regulations in your country.
Cryptocurrencies altered and regenerated online casinos, and the trend of using digital coins and assets for placing bets is going to stay. Players love it, platforms adopted and adjusted their policies and are functioning perfectly fine in the new system, so there is no need to go back to vintage, obsolete banking systems.
