How Casinos Have Changed Over the Last Century

by Tim | May 24, 2022

How Casinos Have Changed Over the Last Century

The very first casino that was officially recognised is the Casino De Venezia in Venice, Italy. It was originally part of the Theatre Saint Moses, which had a special wing where patrons could gamble during stage intermissions. The wing was so popular that it was made a permanent feature and the casino officially opened its doors in 1638.

Now, many things have stayed the same, such as the excitement around playing and some of the original games are still around today. However, casinos and the gambling industry have gone through unprecedented changes over the last century and today, casinos are hardly recognisable when compared to their predecessors.

Technology has created a massive casino evolution and you can now choose from thousands of online casino slots, casino table games or other online casino games, which weren’t around even a few decades ago.

In this blog post, we are going to look at the areas that have undergone significant changes in the last century in the casino industry.

The areas that have evolved the most over the years

Of course, every industry has evolved over the last century, however, casinos have gone through an entire revolution. Let’s take a look at the areas that have seen the biggest changes.

The games themselves

Side view of a slot machine on a casino floor.

Poker, blackjack and other card games were the staple for almost every casino in the world and were undoubtedly the most popular. However, in 1894, the very first slot machine was introduced and this had a massive impact on the casino industry. It took a good amount of time before slot machines really took off, however, but this was because it took a while for them to be mass-produced to keep up with demand. They really shot to stardom in the mid-1900s though, once they were able to be more widely distributed.

Slots machines proved incredibly popular not just for players, but they were a big hit with casinos themselves. Why? Simply put, casinos could make more money in a shorter time frame. Floors used to be filled with tables for card games, which were bulky and took up a lot of space. Not to mention the fact that it takes a lot longer to play a round of poker than it does to spin the slot machines.

In slot machines, casinos had games that took up less space, so more could be fit onto the floor and they had a ridiculously high volume of spins in which to make money. For example, a player could spin a slot machine 30 times in the time it takes to play three hands of poker.

Modern brick-and-mortar and online casinos have more slot games than anything else and as a business, this makes complete sense for the casinos themselves.

Legality

Today, you can simply walk into a casino or open your phone and play any game that you want to (given you’re over the age of 18). It hasn’t always been so easy to place a wager, however.

The UK has a rather confusing history when it comes to the legality of gambling and it’s always been a rather acceptable part of the culture, despite the fact that much of the time it’s not been technically legal.

Gambling was first declared illegal in 1541, when the government issued an act that prohibited all forms of gambling throughout the country. Those in power at the time believed that gambling interfered with men’s military training. There were dozens of different changes in the laws around gambling between 1541 and the 20th century.

The biggest changes to note in the gambling industry in the UK happened in 2005, when the Gambling Act of 2005 made on-site and remote gambling and betting legal. This was put in place to help prevent underground gambling from becoming a playground for criminals. It also sought to ensure that gambling was conducted fairly and wasn’t exploiting vulnerable persons. The Gambling Act of 2005 also allowed for gambling advertisements and you’ll now see gambling ads during football matches and so on.

The rise of online casinos

A man playing slots on a smartphone.

Of course, the biggest change that has happened in casinos is the rise of casinos online. The very first online casino opened in 1996, but very few people had access to the internet to be able to play the small number of games on offer. It was rather basic and rudimentary, but it’s the moment that changed casinos irrevocably.

Fast forward a decade and online casinos were exploding in popularity. The accessibility of these new casinos attracted massive numbers of players. In 2019, the global online casino industry was worth £48.35 billion and this is expected to increase to £76.27 billion by 2023.

Rapidly improving technology meant that even online casinos changed massively in just a short period of time. By 2007, mobile technology made it possible for users over the age of 18 to play their favourite casino games from their smartphones and this increase in accessibility and convenience has dramatically increased user numbers. In 2019, over 50% of online players were gambling on their mobile devices and this will only continue to increase with the ever-evolving mobile technology industry.

Play the best online casino games with The Phone Casino

As you can see, things have changed rapidly for casinos over the last decade, never mind the last century! At The Phone Casino, we are committed to bringing our customers the best online casino experience possible and this means providing modern and exciting casino games like video poker, jackpot slots and Slingo, all of which you can play using your no deposit casino bonus when you create an account with us.

Register with The Phone Casino for the best bonus and online casino games. Get your free casino bonus when you sign up.

Register today!

NO Deposit Required
Register

Something went wrong!

We haven’t been able to verify your address details.

The requires all Casinos to carry out Customer Due Diligence at certain intervals. As such, you are required to update your address details on this occasion.

To continue and access your account, we now require you to email us with proof of your address.

Please EMAIL one of the following documents to our Customer Support team:

  • 1. Utility Bill
  • 2. HMRC/Council Letter
  • 3. Bank/Credit card statement

The document cannot be older than 3 months from today's date and it

MUST be a complete document showing your name, address and the date of the document.

Internet downloaded documents are also acceptable in a pdf form.

The following CANNOT be used: Mobile Phone or Satellite/Cable TV bills.

Once our team have reviewed your documents they will be encrypted and stored within our secured server.

We do not pass any of your personal details to any third party marketing company.

Please email your proof of address as outlined above to support@smallscreencasinos.com or use the submit button below. Please include your mobile number or account ID.

Support hours are outlined in full here.

Documents will be processed as a priority.

This message will display until your details have been verified.

The requires all Casinos to carry out Customer Due Diligence at certain intervals. As such, you are required to update your address details on this occasion. Please fill in the fields below to access your account.

Always Play Responsibly

To revise any of your play limits at any time just look for the Responsible Gaming links at the footer of the page or in the Main Menu under Know Your Limits.

Also please do not hesitate to contact us or use the help links provided, if you need any further help or assistance.

You are seeing this message because you have hit a standard limit or because you have changed a particular set limit, a number of times.

Please note: Restrictions on your play can be set at any time from within the main menu.

You can limit play, deposit, losses or wins.

You can even set reminders to tell you how long you have been playing for.

Remember gambling should be fun and you should always play within your means.

By clicking confirm you acknowledge that you have understood you are in control of your gambling

Are you aware you have hit certain limits or that you changed certain limits again and again?

Are you aware that Customer Services are here to assist you if you need help?

Are you aware of your current limits and how you can change them?

Are you in control of your gambling?

Indicate the extent this statement applies to you and your gambling over the last three months.

Data Protection and updates

Data protection laws mean that we need the OK from you to keep you protected and to keep sending you news and updates about great things that are coming up, such as;

 First play of our latest games, casino products and innovations

 Exclusive cash and prize giveaways

 Fantastic exclusive bonuses and rewards designed for you

Simply click the button below to choose how you’d like us to keep you updated. Just give us the go ahead and we’ll keep you in the loop.

If you change your mind in the future you can withdraw your consent at anytime by using the stop or unsubscribe option in the message you receive.

To find out more about how we use and protect your personal information as well as your rights, please see our privacy policy.

VERIFICATION

In order to complete your verification and to process any withdrawal, we require you to upload one of the documents from the list below. This helps us confirm we are paying the right person and protects our players against any authorised use of their account.

Once received, your ID is encrypted and stored within our secured server. We do not pass any of your details to any third party marketing company.

Opening hours are outlined in full on the support menu. Documents will be processed as a priority.

Please email to support@smallscreencasinos.com a copy of your;

  • Driving license
  • Passport
  • National Identity Card
  • Biometric Residence Permit

Great NEWS

It looks like you already have an account with us. The reference number is please either email us or call us on

Please update your mobile number.

In order to continue, we need to validate your current mobile number.

Please enter your mobile number as well as your current pin/password and then select UPDATE to save the changes.

We'll send you a free SMS to validate your mobile number later on.

If you think this message is displaying in error, please click the customer services link at the bottom.

Customer services

 ATTENTION REQUIRED

Congratulations, The Phone Casino is giving you £200.00 in real cash with no restrictions.

You are seeing this message because you are a valued and VIP customer.

Under the terms of its license, the Gambling Commission requires that The Phone Casino request additional information from its VIP customers to meet its licensing obligations.

The Phone Casino UK license number 00-039397-R-319363-002

All UK regulated, online casinos must abide by the regulations issued by the Gambling Commission and as such, you are requested to provide additional information so that The Phone Casino can meet the Gambling Commission’s requirements for:

  • Prevention of money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism; and
  • Social responsibility regulations.

Customer actions:

In order, to claim the free £200.00 cash and to remove this marker from your player account, you are required to provide one or more of the following types of documentation:

  • Copy of a recent p60;
  • Copy of a recent pay slip;
  • Copy of any other source of income (i.e. your company’s latest accounts, income letter from the government etc);
  • Copy of your most recent tax return payment (if self-employed).

Please email these documents to:

support@smallscreencasinos.com

Our team will review your submission and aim to reply to you within 24 hours.

This message will remain in place until the documents have been accepted and you will be notified immediately when this notice has been lifted.

Thank you for your co-operation

The support team is on hand to assist you with any questions you may have. For support click here

 Documents are encrypted & stored securely. Your information is NEVER shared with third party marketing companies.